On 28/12/2014 19:08, fred wrote:
In article , Neddie Seagoon
writes

I live in a sheltered housing development directly adjacent to the
village's football club. So far, we've got along just fine with the
club and its players and we'd like that to continue. However, the club
has submitted an application to install floodlights which is giving us
cause for concern...

The Environmental Health Officer's report on the proposal has this to
say:

The proposal is for 4 18m high poles with luminaires. I have not had
experience with the luminaires proposed for this development they are
the non horizontal non asymmetrical throw types relying on lenses and
baffles to direct light to where it needs to be. They are at 18m to
ensure that the light can be directed downwards enough to illuminate
the pitch and minimise overspill.
The lighting levels showing the horizontal Lux levels and vertical Lux
levels demonstrate that the lighting can provide lighting levels of,
Between 84 Lux and 312 Lux on field with averages being
around
the
200 Lux mark (Horizontal Levels), 0 Horizontal over
spill of around 1Lux at the nearest residential
accommodation, 0 Vertical overspill at 1.5m of 1Lux to
1.7 Lux on the vertical surface
for the nearest residential building (this would equate to ground floor
window level.
These levels are well within the Current ILP Guidance
Notes for
Light
Pollution. 0
Quite frankly, we don't understand what these "spill" figures mean in
day-to-day terms. Are they equivalent to a full moon? A car headlight?
A room light?

They're right, the taller the masts, the more likely they will be able
to direct the luminaries downwards and reduce nuisance 'spill'.

Modern luminaries are really very well designed and have very well
controlled beams.

The current limits for nuisance spill are 5 lux (and perfectly
acceptable) so the 1-1.7 lux quoted should be no problem at all.

The only risk is that the design is provided by an expert company but
the erection and aiming is done by a bunch of DIY ****s linked to the
club who purloin a cherry picker for an afternoon.

If there is a planning consultation, request a requirement that the
installation is inspected by the council planning department after
completion to verify that the design limits are met (measured with a lux
meter at night) and that they are to remain dark until they meet the
design spec. Request a time limit on how late they can be used 9 or 10pm
being reasonable[1].

In very broad terms, modern luminaries for these applications are
designed to be installed with the glass face horizontal so any hint of a
tilt upwards is an indication of an amateur and non-compliant install.

At 1-1.7 lux, you wont even know they are on, think dipped headlamp beam
half a mile away.

A lux meter for a tenner from maplin or on ebay should put your mind at
rest.

See if you can get a copy of the lux plot from the design documentation,
it's usually part of the planning application and will likely have the
details of the planned luminaries. TBH, I'd expect 12m masts to be
sufficient for a simple football pitch sized installation unless they
are planning to illuminate a a larger area for practice.

[1] To misquote an old Squeeze track, "we don't mind the lighting, it's
the swearing we don't need . . . . "

Did you know, Cool for Cats is only one of two songs where Chris Difford
did the vocals?


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk