We share the CPRE’s frustration with local authorities that darkness at night is one of the key characteristics of rural areas and it represents a major difference between what is rural and what is urban. Security lights, floodlights and streetlights all break into the darkness and create a veil of light across the night sky.
While some of this light is necessary, much of it is wasting energy, shining upwards where it isn’t needed, spilling into homes, disrupting people’s sleep and affecting the behaviour of wildlife. The quality of our lives and natural world is being diminished by light pollution.
How fortunate we are to live on the edge of Salisbury Plain and Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs AONB an International Dark Sky Reserve.
But all is not well in Warminster as the threat of Damask Way development looms upon us! The light pollution from this high-ground development that overlooks the Wylye Wildlife Corridor across to the AONB and Salisbury Plain will certainly impact and affect our cherished wildlife including bats, otters, badgers and toads to owls and moths and our night views forever!
All this has not been sufficiently considered when outline permission was given and we ask the people of Warminster to send a strong message to Wiltshire Council to say that it should – please write to your MP, local councillors Wiltshire Council’s Landscape team, and visit our website to sign our petition which has already captured over 2,300 views of the local town-folk of Warminster.
Ian Perkins, Warminster