Light pollution complaint about Shell garage leaves many Thropton residents bemused

The service station in Thropton opened in November but a neighbouring parish council lodged a complaint about the lighting with Northumberland County Council.

The issue made the national news with speculation that it could drive star-gazing tourists away from an area renowned for its dark skies.

However, star-gazing expert and local resident Ian Glendinning says the impact on the dark skies is ‘negligible’.

“From an astronomy point of view, the impact is negligible and has no effect on dark sky clarity,” he stressed.

“The bright lights are downward facing and have no atmospheric effect. The perimeter lights are sympathetic and there are no upward facing or pointing lights at all.

"They are turned off at 9pm and from April to September won't be on anyway, so I fail to see where any problem lies.”

The vast majority of more than 400 people who responded to a poll on the Rothbury and Coquetdale Facebook page also said they had no issues with it.

Cllr Steven Bridgett, Rothbury ward county councillor, said: “Ninety-nine per cent of residents have no issue with the lighting.

"This is the first fuel station in the Coquet Valley for many years and everyone has been looking forward to its opening, along with the Spar shop, as it means they no longer have to make a 25-mile round trip to Powburn or Alnwick to fill up their tanks.

"There was an 18 month period between the time the application was submitted and the time it was approved so if anyone had any issues around the lighting they could have raised it then.”

Nearly 600 square miles of the county was awarded Gold Tier status in 2013 by the International Dark Sky Association for its pristine dark skies.

But Cllr Bridgett pointed out: “Thropton is not in the dark skies area and it’s not in the national park. This is a development within a settlement.”

A Shell spokesperson said: “The site mentioned is a dealer owned site and they are aware of the complaint regarding lighting coming from this service station.

"The service station currently meets regulation requirements for light pollution.

"We are aware the area being gold-tier for star-gazing, and are currently exploring suitable solutions to dim the lighting to address this concern.”

Northumberland County Council has confirmed that a complaint was received which has been dealt with through its complaints process, rather than as an enforcement case.