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Original poster

Street light directly outside bedroom window ... problem??

29 replies

littlemissbossy · 06/12/2006 10:52

Had a call this morn from sis, who has recently bought and moved into her first house. Yesterday she had a letter from the council informing her of future street lighting work and also noticed a mark on the pavement outside her house. Turns out the mark is where they will be repositioning the street light, directly outside her bedroom window.
Is there anything she can do to stop this?
Are there any mners who experience or have experienced light pollution from street lights?
TIA, she's real upset about it, it's her first house, she's only lived there a couple of weeks, had drain problems within a few days and now this.

OP posts:
WonderCod · 06/12/2006 10:53

gt your head back in that washer LMB

foxinsocks · 06/12/2006 10:55

we have a street light outside our house (can't remember if it is directly outside) but it's an orange glow one so doesn't really shine that bright

you can get black out linings for curtains

cupcakes · 06/12/2006 10:57

there's one near our bedroom window but I never notice it - except when I'm appreciating it for lighting up our car and when I'm peeping out at drunks rolling along.
We do have quite thick curtains.
I think she can complain to council but do it asap.

onzephyrstdayofchristmas · 06/12/2006 10:59

There used t obe an orange one outside dp's pub and the room I had when I first worked there was right beside the light - kept me awake for hours!! I'd get her to ring the council ASAP and just find out where she stands.

Original poster
littlemissbossy · 06/12/2006 11:05

She phoned the council this morning, they confirmed that the mark on the pavement is where a new street light is to be positioned, she told them she wasn't very happy about it as light would undoubtedly shine into her bedroom and they basically said 'tough'. She can put her complaint in writing, which she intends to do.
Just wondered if anybody on here was aware of the environment health act and light pollution?? or had suffered a similar problem

OP posts:
Original poster
littlemissbossy · 06/12/2006 11:06

Also, she wondered whether the value or resale of the house would be affected. She said she wouldn't buy a house with a street light directly outside.
What do you think??

OP posts:
WonderCod · 06/12/2006 11:08

we looked at ahouse that had a roda that swerved in front of it and we asked them if they ahd a prob wiht headlights

tjhey said no cos whne they did they had their curtains shit awyway

Stockingsofdinosaurs · 06/12/2006 11:09

We had one about 12feet from ours and it never bothered us in the slightest. You do need good heavily-lined curtains (ours were form a charity shop but Freecycle would be a good place to start).

Original poster
littlemissbossy · 06/12/2006 11:10

sorry cod I don't understand, why did they have shit curtains? did they have poor taste or were they just dirty people?

OP posts:
WonderCod · 06/12/2006 11:10

we have one over our wall
i odnt mind it ata ll

WonderCod · 06/12/2006 11:10

snort
lololol
they were SHUT
sorry

Stockingsofdinosaurs · 06/12/2006 11:11

It was also a security bonus for us as we had no porch so the front of the house was well lit for all the neighbours to see.

Original poster
littlemissbossy · 06/12/2006 11:11

and here was me trying to be all serious

OP posts:
foxinsocks · 06/12/2006 11:11

yes, same as dino

WonderCod · 06/12/2006 11:12

This reply has been deleted

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RTKangaSANTAMummy · 06/12/2006 11:13

The sussex house has a streetlight outside and IMHO it is good for security

So that your house is lit up so burglars can't access in the dark

It means the security lighting just is round the back sounds saves on our electric bill

Original poster
littlemissbossy · 06/12/2006 11:13

Thanks ladies for your suggestions/comments so far.
There already is a light on her side of the road which shines into a neighbours garden but not into their house but they are moving it directly next to her house. I've already suggested black out blinds. She'll just have to write to the council and see what comes back ... probably nothing

OP posts:
ChristmasCaroligula · 06/12/2006 11:14

You just get blackout curtains. Blackout lining, which you can attach to your curtains, cost about £30 for a really big size - cheaper if the curtains are smaller.

Someone has to have the street light outside their house.

TBH I can't believe your sister would waste time getting upset about this. It's not like it's a pub, or a municipal waste site or something.

WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 06/12/2006 11:14

Blackout curtains are great.

My take on this would be that once something starts to annoy you, it takes on a bigger significance suddenly. So for most people this wouldn't be a problem in reality, but when you find out something like this and feel powerless to stop it, it gets right on your nerves.

It won't be a problem for her most likely, but that doesn't stop it being annoying because it feels important to her iyswim.

ChristmasCaroligula · 06/12/2006 11:38

True. But there's really no point hassling the council about it, she'll just waste her time and energy talking to a brick wall and get very frustrated with them. Having any communication at all with local councils, even when you've got a valid point, is enough to drive you to a mental breakdown at the best of times, but about something like this where there's really no major problem, it's suicide-inducing. She won't even get one of those patronising "I understand your concerns" letters.

FiveGoldenFIMBOs · 06/12/2006 11:57

My old boss had a street light outside her bedroom. She was a very stingy person, and swore she read by street light rather than having to use a bedside light, thus saving her a fortune in light bulbs. (I am presuming she left the curtains open to achieve this!)

ChristmasCaroligula · 06/12/2006 12:00

My god misers are fascinating aren't they.

I wonder how much it cost her in spectacle lenses.

Tommy · 06/12/2006 12:01

we've recently had aload of work done on our road and they replaced the lights with taller, brighter ones - one, of course, roght outside our bedroom window. It's so bright that even the birds start singing in the middle of the night cos they think it's daytime!

We bought blackout liners for the curtains and it's fine now (don't know about the birds though)

not sure the council would change their minds about it tbh

Original poster
littlemissbossy · 06/12/2006 12:16

Thanks for the comments ladies, will pass them out, particularly the recommendation about black out curtains.

IMO she's entitled to her opinion and she should voice her concerns to the council.

OP posts:
poppy101 · 06/12/2006 12:41

I'm afraid she can't do anything about this. We had the same problem a few months back. At least she had a letter from her council. First thing we knew is when a huge pole went up outside our bedroom window, worst for us as we had just had a huge loft conversion completed.

We complained to the council highways department, building control dept., complained to local councillors, they even complained to the local ombudsmen (who basically told us to get lost!!!).

They did put a filter on our light, it was a huge motorway light that they fitted outside our house. The light is pain, doesn't really matter to us now though, we didn't put anything different up at our window, just get a faint glow. Doesn't keep us awake. Also thought we would have problems with kids hanging around outside our house, doesn't happen.

I also don't think that it will affect the house value as a lot of people think that it improves the safety of the house.

We complained but got nowhere, get your sister to complain to local councillors, they might do something, good luck. Just think if we wanted to stick a huge 10ft pole up in our garden we have to get planning permision, unfortunately the council doesn't