The Art of Lighting for Dark Skies webinar was a great success!
On Thursday, April 24th, 2025, DFL hosted our very first webinar, entitled “The Art of Lighting for Dark Skies”. It was well-attended and actually a lot of fun. Led by Ryan Carroll, Lighting Impact & Planning Department Lead at DFL and Immediate Past Chair of the Young Lighting Professionals, the 30-minute session provided valuable insights into designing lighting solutions that protect the night sky while meeting functional needs.
Best practices in dark sky-friendly design
Drawing from his extensive experience, Ryan shared insights from notable projects, including DFLs award-winning lighting scheme at Dorothy House Hospice in Winsley, near Bath. The project, is situated near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and exemplifies best practices in dark sky-friendly design by directing light precisely where needed and eliminating upward emissions. You can read more about the lighting scheme here – britastro.org
In the webinar, we also explored the broader implications of light pollution, referencing initiatives like DarkSky International’s Responsible Outdoor Lighting principles. These guidelines advocate for installing lighting only when necessary, directing it appropriately, maintaining suitable light levels, utilising controls to dim or turn off lights after hours, and opting for warmer-coloured light sources to minimise environmental impact.
Ryan emphasised the importance of reducing light pollution without compromising safety, introducing dark sky-friendly lighting techniques and innovations.
Ensuring a smooth ride for your Planning Application
Ryan also discussed how thoughtful lighting design can facilitate planning approvals, particularly in areas sensitive to light pollution and included practical examples. We ended the webinar with a Q&A session and some great questions popped up. We didn’t have time to cover them all within the 30 minutes, so you can find them all below.
We were joined by quite a diverse audience, including architects, planning consultants, and local authority town planners, all eager to learn about balancing development with environmental stewardship and we received some great feedback from participants which highlighted the session’s relevance and the practical knowledge that was offered.
For those interested in sustainable lighting design and protecting our night skies, our webinar served as an informative and inspiring resource and will shortly be available on the DFL YouTube Channel.
Q and A Answers:
Q: Is there going to be Legislation to reinforce the requirements for LIA as has appeared in Europe and Ireland?
A: While there is no single piece of legislation that mandates Lighting Impact Assessments across all developments, various regulations and local planning policies require them for certain projects, especially those involving significant external lighting or located near sensitive areas. We are not aware of any current plans to mandate the requirement for LIA’s as the responsibility is with the relevant Local Planning Authority to enforce their own Planning Policies, in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework.
Q: Why is it that lux levels should not be specified?
A: When setting planning conditions, it is important not to specify lux levels unless they are referenced in specific guidance. To ensure the lighting associated with the Proposed Development is compliant with planning policies, specific lighting guidance (such as GN01 and GN08 from the Institution of Lighting Professional’s) should instead be referenced, as these set out the latest industry best practice.
Q: Why is 4000K or 6500K still the norm whenever you try and purchase any outdoor LED equipment? Cheap or Expensive!
A: Products with 4000K and 6500K LEDs are still common because of early preferences, perceived brightness, energy efficiency, and existing specifications. In the domestic market, there is less awareness about the effects of cool white light and the colour temperature of the fittings isn’t strictly regulated. But the tide is turning as awareness grows about the biological and environmental impacts of cool-white lighting in the professional market.
Q: You were advocating for 3000K lanterns earlier. A lot of the PFI contracts are specifying 4000K and 5700K on pedestrian crossings.
A: The colour temperature of luminaires is often set out in contractual PFI performance specifications which limits luminaire variances. Often meaning the flexibility in the colour temperature of luminaires is limited. However, this is not the case for all PFI’s, so it is important to check with the Local Highway Authority in the relevant area, as their policies can often differ.
Q: From my experience in private consultancy, lighting is not always considered to necessarily be an important material consideration by the LPA unless you’re talking about a Site in the National Landscape etc. Do you see lighting as a consideration of the planning process gaining additional weight across all types of projects (major, minor, housebuilder etc)? Thanks!
A: Lighting is gaining more strategic relevance in the planning system, and we are currently at a tipping point. While it’s not yet being treated as a primary material consideration across the board, it’s becoming harder to ignore especially as it intersects with ecology, placemaking, public health, and landscape protection.
From your position in consultancy, you’re well placed to nudge this further by:
- Advocating for warmer CCTs and reduced spill during early stages, or promoting the inclusion of Lighting Strategies; and
- Flagging lighting in ecology and BNG strategy documents.
Q: Why are non-cutoff lanterns still manufactured?
A: This is ultimately driven by market demand, especially the wholesale market where luminaire cost is a priority over the quality of the light being provided. More legislation around the quality of light provided by luminaires would help with this.
Q: There are lots of bottom-up good lighting projects, however, they represent the minority of lighting being installed. To mainstream dark sky compliant lighting the APPG for Dark Skies Ten Policy Plan recommendations need implementing, including classing external lighting fixtures as ‘development’ under the Town and Country Planning system. The secondary regulation to implement this could be written so that dark sky compliant lighting is classed as ‘deemed consent’, not requiring full planning permission. Your/DFL’s view on this Ryan please?
A: This is something that could have a great impact on the quality of our lit environment at night, with the correct technical and political input. In the interim, DFL believes in helping to educate Local Planning Authority Officers on how to robustly assess all lighting within planning applications, considering the policy proposals were not taken forward by the government at the time.
