GEORGE NEWS - People who choose to live in a rural area would usually be after peace and quiet, being surrounded by nature, and a brilliant night sky.

Wilderness Heights used to be such a place, but is losing these qualities slowly but surely as properties are being subdivided and the population is growing. The inevitable is happening: more and more, artificial lighting is disturbing moonlit nights.

This is causing unhappiness among some long-established residents who have known the old Wilderness Heights that was once pure countryside. 

Speaking on their behalf, resident and international environmental expert Dr Arne Witt says there is a proliferation of flood lighting these days that are mostly introduced by new residents from upcountry, where crime is rampant and lighting is seen as a necessary security measure.

Pollinators disrupted

Witt says light pollution is not only annoying, but has a detrimental effect on the environment. "A beekeeper in Wilderness Heights has complained that an array of flood lighting from his neighbour is affecting his bees. He earns an income from beekeeping."

Witt quotes research that has shown that artificial light at night disrupts the day-and-night cycle of many important pollinators for food crops, like bees, which can affect their reproduction cycles. Artificial light also disrupts nocturnal pollination and leads to a reduced number of fruits produced by plants.

"Light pollution also affects people as artificial light at night has been found to suppress melatonin production and disrupt our circadian rhythms, which can increase risks for certain sicknesses and disorders. Other species' sleep-and-wake cycles are also regulated by melatonin, which means they are affected too."

He says artificial light can mask natural light and confuse nocturnal creatures that use the natural light of the moon and stars for orientation, navigation, avoidance of predators, location of food and reproductive behaviour.

"It is a very serious issue and needs to be addressed. Lighting is not about crime. People who have been living here for decades do not have flood lighting. New residents put up lights assuming that crime here is at the same levels as in Johannesburg. The problem is, once again, that the rights of the individual seem to count for more than the rights of the community, and that needs to change."

Control measures not regarded

According to Philip Hammond, a lighting engineer from Cape Town and educator member of the International Association of Lighting Designers, all outdoor lighting must comply with a number of standards. 

"There is a model lighting ordinance (MLO) which embraces the requirements of the International Dark Sky Association (IDA).

"In South Africa, the provincial and local authorities pay scant regard to this. They are mostly entirely ignorant of the detail and contents."

Hammond says in the MLO, all areas within a country are "classed", from areas of no light such as in wilderness areas being a Zone LZ-0 (for example the Cederberg), to Zone LZ-4 (for example an inner city area with high ambient light).

"Even here (in a city), more control through the application of reasonable by-laws could be exercised to limit excessively high light levels. The MLO includes an ordinance to limit residential exterior lighting."

According to Hammond a national government would usually zone the country with regard to the Model Lighting Ordinance, however, a provincial and even a local authority is well within its rights to zone in terms of the MLO.

He says there are ways that flood lights can still be used, providing they are linked to sensor technology. 

"In this way, as soon as an intruder enters the area where the flood light is deployed, being LED technology, it would activate at full brightness immediately with no delay. This is known to have a greater deterrent effect than flood lights that are switched on permanently.

"My eldest son lives in a suburb in Randburg. He has a very large property. Every floodlight is linked to its own motion sensor which can be overridden if the children are playing in the evening or using their swimming pool. As soon as they are done, the override is returned to normal mode, which is motion sensing. Most of their neighbours use the same technology. 

"Their neighbourhood has had no intrusions or incidents. They do all have monitored security systems with armed response, but in almost two years that he has lived there, the armed response has never had to respond."

Not taking ownership

Witt has approached George Municipality with regard to introducing a by-law to regulate light pollution, but was referred to the Garden Route District Municipality.

Upon inquiry from George Herald, the GRDM simply commented, "This matter requires civil action and we, as a sphere of local government, do not have any right to intervene."

Witt accuses the municipalities of passing the buck and says they are indeed allowed to pass ordinances on matters that the national government allows to be regulated at local level.

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