Braintree: Stargazers fear racecourse floodlights will block night sky

12:00pm Friday 21st September 2012 in News

The owners of Great Leighs Racecourse want to adapt the site's existing floodlights The owners of Great Leighs Racecourse want to adapt the site's existing floodlights

Stargazers fear a racecourse’s floodlights could prevent their group from seeing into the night sky.

The North Essex Astronomical Society (NEAS) fears plans to adapt the floodlights at Great Leighs Racecourse will impact upon their stargazing activities at the nearby Discovery Centre, in Great Notley.

The owners of the racecourse, which last held horse racing in 2009, want to host races again in the near future.

Comments (4)

1:46pm Fri 21 Sep 12

brain1 says...

We have 365/6 days a year
What difference is losing about 30 of these days in order many hundreds of ordinary people can enjoy 3 hours of these evenings at the races
Stop being so selfish
How often do the Star gazers meet and how many of them attend at a time?
We have 365/6 days a year What difference is losing about 30 of these days in order many hundreds of ordinary people can enjoy 3 hours of these evenings at the races Stop being so selfish How often do the Star gazers meet and how many of them attend at a time? brain1

3:59pm Fri 21 Sep 12

The Yellow Peril says...

Well said Brain. What a load of old selfish tosh
Well said Brain. What a load of old selfish tosh The Yellow Peril

11:38pm Fri 21 Sep 12

grebrynod says...

The many hundreds of ordinary people care more about the environment than you think. Newbury racecourse won't have lighting 'cause the wealthy live in Berkshire and they care. But anything is good enough for Essex. If this goes through it will reinforce all the stereotypes of Essex.
The many hundreds of ordinary people care more about the environment than you think. Newbury racecourse won't have lighting 'cause the wealthy live in Berkshire and they care. But anything is good enough for Essex. If this goes through it will reinforce all the stereotypes of Essex. grebrynod

7:35pm Wed 26 Sep 12

davedubya says...

Hundreds of people (both young and old) come to the stargazing events, and for many it is their first taste of astronomy and using a telescope. The stargazing nights at Great Notley Discovery Centre & Country Park are events for the public, are free of charge and run by volunteers who give up their time to show people the wonders of the night sky.

If the planning application for the racecourse goes ahead in its current form, it will have a major effect on the local environment - not just in the area directly around the racecourse, but over 20 miles away. The "new" lighting plans (that the BWT helped the racecourse to publicise recently), are actually the same, flawed plans that were submitted before and are in no way suitable or acceptable.

Should the racecourse again light up the surrounding area, it will not only render the country park unfit for use as a site for astronomy but will badly pollute the area as a whole.

So to call such activities and actions "selfish" is rather ignorant.
Hundreds of people (both young and old) come to the stargazing events, and for many it is their first taste of astronomy and using a telescope. The stargazing nights at Great Notley Discovery Centre & Country Park are events for the public, are free of charge and run by volunteers who give up their time to show people the wonders of the night sky. If the planning application for the racecourse goes ahead in its current form, it will have a major effect on the local environment - not just in the area directly around the racecourse, but over 20 miles away. The "new" lighting plans (that the BWT helped the racecourse to publicise recently), are actually the same, flawed plans that were submitted before and are in no way suitable or acceptable. Should the racecourse again light up the surrounding area, it will not only render the country park unfit for use as a site for astronomy but will badly pollute the area as a whole. So to call such activities and actions "selfish" is rather ignorant. davedubya

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