A small village in Suffolk, with just 40 homes, has been officially recognised as an International Dark Sky Community for the exceptional quality of its night sky.
Thorington Street is the first place in England to receive this title, joining only six other communities in the UK – three in Scotland, two in Wales and one in the Channel Islands.
A campaign launched by nine villagers, who worked tirelessly for nine years to preserve the starry sky, was central to this recognition. The award recognizes “outstanding dedication to preserving the night sky” and includes measures to reduce public lighting, raise awareness of light pollution and involve the community in stargazing.
Mike Barrett from the Dedham Vale National Landscape Dark Skies Campaign told the Daily Mail: "This award is the culmination of our campaign and gives us the authority to continue our efforts to reduce light pollution in protected areas. The sight of people living in areas with excessive lighting and seeing the Milky Way with thousands of stars is a huge pleasure for us."
Thorington Street is located in south-east Suffolk, in the geographical centre of Dedham Vale, a 35-square-mile conservation area. Although the village has minimal lighting, achieving Dark Sky Community status was a very difficult process, with very strict criteria and two years of active engagement with residents to measure light pollution and promote measures to limit it.
After almost a decade of effort, Thorington Street was officially recognized with this status. Dan Oakley, Policy and Destination Manager at DarkSky, said: “The dedication of this small community to achieve dark sky status was extraordinary. Their lighting management plan is an inspiration to other communities.”
In the future, the community will need to maintain ongoing commitment and meet the criteria each year to retain the status. The project recently received a major boost from the National Trust, which offered a large Tudor barn, garden and surrounding field as a Dark Sky Discovery Centre. This centre will serve as a venue for “astro-tourism”, bringing visitors from urban areas for stargazing and astronomy lessons.
Barrett says: “The best thing is to show people who live in cities the treasures of the night sky. I wish authorities and developers were more aware of light pollution and its impact on the environment.”
Recent studies show that dark skies are not only beneficial for stargazers, but also for the entire ecosystem: lighting after sunset affects the sleep cycles of urban birds, the reproductive behavior of pigeons and the life of nocturnal creatures. Light pollution may even contribute to global warming, as plants that absorb more artificial light produce more CO2. /GazetaExpress/
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