About Us

Urban Night Sky Project

Our mission

The night sky is a global commons that is being eroded from view
(and obliterated from our memory). Rather than watch this unfold from the sidelines, we’ve joined the international effort to give it back to our children. In short, to preserve and protect the night-time environment from getting worse.

Starry night skies are an inseparable component of the natural world, of which
we are a part. Artificial light pollution is now overflowing into every last skerrick
of darkness, encroaching into wildlife habitat and having negative effects on
human health and the well-being and all life on the planet.

There’s no need for this to be the case, but if light pollution is allowed to
continue at the current rate – doubling every ten years – our children
will be forever deprived of what their grandparents took for granted:
starry night skies.

We can’t stand by and let this happen. Our mission is to
raise the alarm and have a jolly good go at
turning the tide in favour of dark skies.

Who we are

WE ARE a group of people from the Lake Macquarie and Newcastle area who are concerned that the  amount of artificial light at night (ALAN), is doubling every ten years.

Like a white wash, the night sky is now more like a bland blank canvas; whereas obscured behind this is a vibrant ever changing kaleidoscope of colours, shapes and patterns that has intrigued generations of night sky explorers forever – but no longer. 

It’s a tragic consequence of an obsession with technology gone wrong – in the hands of people who have taken the night sky for granted without pausing to think what the cumulative impact would deliver.  What a travesty of justice.

As noted  elsewhere in this website, it is effecting our quality of life to such an extent that we need to do something positive to reverse what has been described as a universal threat to human health.

Being a daylight species we have forgotten that our increasing love of outdoor lighting is impacting wildlife behaviour on a massive scale. 

Many nocturnal animals are unable to go about their normal routines of feeding and pollinating.

We have included information to help us understand what this means for them and by extension, us – since we are all connected in the great web of life, as we learnt in basic science lessons at school. How quickly we can forget.

Practice based

WHEN ALL is not well with the world, taking a medical approach can help us address what might seem to be intractable issues. A GP prescribes medications as part of addressing health issues for people. We prescribe practical ways to restore a visible night sky in the interests of giving back what is everyones birthright, since the beginning of time.

Let us transplant some new ideas into the narrative of what is acceptable practice for healthy night light – for human wellbeing as daylight creatures; and for nocturnal species wellbeing as nightlight creatures.

There are practical ways of doing this at a local level. Adopt night sky friendly principles and then apply them at home, school, place of work, where we play sport; advocate for them at the local service club, shopping centre, streetscape … Everywhere.

To be polite with light

MAYBE USING light to turn night into day is okay, so long as that light isn’t allowed to go astray.

Like keeping a dog on a leash, we need to keep light under control, in this case within a shield, directed to where it’s needed, not spilling all over the place.

Not interfering with our ability to take in the starry heavens like times of old. This is not being sentimental – it’s being responsible.

Not all light is equal. Lighting choices that don’t take account of where it ends up often results in light trespass, over-lighting, light clutter and glare (see four images below). 

Just as intruders are not welcome. To allow light to prey into the lives of other people, is unnecessary when we have lighting technology that can light our way and keep us safe. There’s no need to have light shining in all directions like someone flailing their arms all over the place in an attempt to get attention, when all that is required is the right light for the site.

Choose to be polite with light at night.

The brief: What we are out to achieve

Aims – The Urban Night Sky Place (UNSP) project

  • To reduce the amount of artificial light pollution that is spilling into the night sky, blotting out our ability to observe the stars as was once the case and taken for granted.
  • To reclaim a level of darkness that enables urban residents to again step outside and see what their ancestors saw.
  • To promote best-practice night friendly outdoor light fittings and fixtures as a default choice for new purchases and when replacing or upgrading.
  • To present a convincing science based case for the adoption of night friendly lighting as the lighting of choice in preference to whatever else is on offer. That any premium price is considered a sound selection that can be justified on the grounds of providing long term benefits that outweigh any negative short-term budgetary factors.
  • To emphasise the benefits that result from adopting best-practice night friendly lighting … health and wellbeing, benefits to plants and animals , energy efficiency, financial savings, heritage values and scientific study.

How – are we going about achieving this?

  • By raising awareness of the need to reduce artificial light pollution that is taking place incrementally as if by accident, but in reality one inappropriately installed light at a time – with the cumulative effect of doubling night sky pollution every eight to ten years.
  • By pointing out that a  good place to start, is by addressing the pollution at source, at each lighting fixture. It is within our capacity to stabilise the current trajectory and over time, turn down the light spill and bring back a semblance of darkness – such that the visible change is sufficient to motivate people to speed up the process, because they can see and witness the benefits by way of a recovery of what was previously missing.
  • By making available education and outreach programs to a range of contemporary media and on selected social media platforms. Thus, reach a cross section of society commencing with those who can deliver multiplier effects – teachers, doctors, planners, local and state government representatives, media and social media influencers, trades people, landcarers, ….

Who – are we consulting in the process?

  • Designers, planners, engineers, community leaders, energy providers, astronomers, ecologists, health and wellbeing providers, teachers and lecturers, horticulturalists, communicators, and all  those who identify with the goal of turning down artificial light pollution for the benefit of this and future generations.

Where – are we focusing our attention?

  • Householders, especially those within close proximity to forested and bushland areas, parks, reserves; small and large business operators, education providers, service clubs and not-for-profit organisations,  clubs providing night sporting events , open air carpark operators, office  building managers, lighting retailers and installers, building planners and architects.

When – is the project expected to deliver on its aims?

  • The project is part of a larger international effort and will be guided by the best science available to us.
    • In the process it is expected that there will be spin off benefits over an extended period: for the community as a whole, for families, for ecology and wildlife in particular, human health & wellbeing, with flow-on financial savings across the board, but most particularly in reduced ongoing operating expenditures.
    • The designation of Munibung Hill as an Urban Night Sky Place, under the protocols administered by Dark Sky International, is one of our goals

See other pages in the website for definitions of terminology.