Switch off the lights, a step in the right direction

by Ian Stephenson, Planning Convenor, from Bulletin 8 of 2022, October.

The recent decision by the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) regarding the advertising on the Glebe Island Silos, to have the lighting switched off at 11 pm, is a welcome improvement.

The advertising is very large, being over 1,170 square metres. It was previously flood-lit from dusk until 1 am. Glebe Point is a little over 400 metres from the sign. The supporting documentation for the DA demonstrated that the lighting’s visual sensitivity, magnitude and impact on parts of Glebe Point is high to moderate.

The Society argued that the proposed hours for the lighting of the signs, from dusk to 1 am was excessive and, as a minimum, light pollution should be treated the same way as noise pollution and not intrude into people’s homes during the normal hours of repose – from 10 pm. Although the IPC’s decision was to change the hours of the evening’s illumination from 1 am (the next morning) to 11 pm (the same evening), this is a step in the right direction. The signs have been approved for another three years.