The security light at the toilet block identified last week as the largest single point source of ecological light impact in the Dark Sky Park has been replaced.
It was not replaced by the park authority, which had scheduled the matter for its October meeting. It was replaced by a retired electrician from the next village, who read the article on the Wednesday, ordered a downward-shielded warm-spectrum motion-activated fitting for £86 on the Thursday, and put it up on the following Tuesday morning.
He did not ask anybody first.
The counts
Trapping at the site resumed four nights after the change. Numbers at the block have fallen by roughly 80% and counts at two nearby control points have risen slightly, which is what the survey team hoped for and indicates dispersal rather than mortality.
The light still works. It comes on when somebody approaches the door, which is what it was installed to do.
“It was a bad light. I have put in a good light. I am not going to pretend there was a great deal more to it than that.”
The electrician
The awkward part
The fitting was not his property and he had no authority to alter it. The authority has confirmed that, strictly, an unauthorised alteration to an asset has taken place, and that this will be noted.
It has also confirmed that the new fitting meets its own dark sky guidance, that it will not be removed, and that the £86 will be reimbursed.
The other thirty-three
An audit of the remaining unshielded lights identified across the park has been brought forward from October to this month.
The electrician has offered to do them. The authority has said it will need to go through procurement, and has asked him whether he would consider tendering.
