Light nuisance

There has been an increase in complaints about lighting to local authorities in recent years.

What is Light pollution?

Light pollution is probably best described as artificial light that is allowed to illuminate, or intrude upon, areas not intended to be lit to the point where it is "prejudicial to health" (injurious or likely to cause injury) or a "nuisance" (materially affecting comfort or enjoyment of your property).

We do not have specific powers to deal with general light pollution, but have legal powers to tackle certain specific problems that may constitute a statutory nuisance.

Light nuisances covered under the statutory nuisance law

Artificial light from sources such as street lighting, domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural security lighting, advertising lighting, car parks, sports stadiums, domestic decorative lighting, exterior lighting of buildings, laser shows, sky beams and even temporary works such as road works are included where the light is causing nuisance.

Excluded are:

• direct or reflected sunlight or moonlight
• lighthouses 
• crown estates
• armed forces/crown property

What can you do if you have a problem with light nuisance?

Firstly, approach the owner of the lighting. Often the remedy is quite simple. A minor adjustment may be all that is required, or maybe an agreement about when lights should be turned on or off.

If the owner of the lighting is unwilling to remedy the situation to your satisfaction, you have two options:

• contact us. We will investigate your complaint.
• consider taking a private legal action under the statutory nuisance provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Evaluating a light nuisance

To proceed with formal action, we must be of the opinion that either substantial personal discomfort or injury to health exists or is likely to occur or recur. We will form an opinion on nuisance having regard to all of the following issues:

• avoidability – are alternative solutions readily available to minimise the light
• convention – is the light established common practice and widespread
• duration – how long does the light event last
• frequency – how often does the light event occur, e.g. hourly, daily, weekly
• impact - how does the light affect you
• importance – the need for the source of the lighting with regards to the wider community
• locality - what is acceptable in one location may not be acceptable in another
• time – light during the night may have more impact that light during the evening

The situation will be assessed in line with the relevant Scottish Government Guidance to Accompany the Statutory Nuisance Provisions of the Public Health etc (Scotland) Act 2008.

Mitigation measures

If it is decided that there is a problem with light nuisance, there are a number of mitigation measures that may be suggested:

• switching the light source off
• hours of the light source limited
• better aiming of the light source
• replacing the fitting(s) with lower power items
• fitting of shields or baffles
• design and planting of landscape screening or fencing

Private actions using the Environmental Protection Act 1990

It is possible to take a private action under Section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. You may wish to consider taking legal advice before proceeding. If you wish to proceed you should contact the Sheriff Court