Outlying area
Our municipality is located in a beautiful area. We have a large and green outdoor area. Vast grasslands that turn into small-scale ash trees, nature reserves, beautiful streams, flowering roadsides and field edges. Part of our municipality lies in the beautiful National Landscape. We are careful and proud of our beautiful landscape.
Laws and regulations
We are not obliged to light, but we do have a duty of care. We must ensure that traffic safety is not compromised. In addition, the Achterhoek regional spatial policy plays a major role in the outlying area. The indicates that "The characteristics of the Achterhoek must be preserved. Spatial developments can be accommodated, but with preservation of the existing unique character'.
In addition, in the outlying area our zoning plans play a role.
"initiatives are partly assessed on the extent to which they contribute to the preservation and development of the quality of the environment, for example, effects on landscape (image quality), residential and living environment, traffic and nature.
Light and safety
For many people, light is safety. If a road is lit, but no one is around or people have no view of it, the light gives false security.
In the countryside, you can sometimes see individual points of light from afar. This is not always necessary and can be disturbing, as well as having a blinding effect or even endangering road safety.
Light and dark seen from above
Several years ago, a sky brightness map of the province of Gelderland was made based on the amount of visible stars. This shows how dark/light the province is.
The light from surrounding communities increasingly beams down on our community. During a cloudless evening, few stars are visible.
André Kuipers also took photos of the Netherlands from space at night a few years ago. In these you can clearly see how much light there is in our country at night. Even in our area, a lot of light can still be seen from the sky.
This is how we do it from now on
- We want to further prevent light nuisance, light pollution and unnecessary energy consumption.
- We protect the dark landscape and reduce disturbance to flora and fauna.
- For new situations, the principle of 'No lighting, unless' applies. We look at where we can take measures to ensure road safety. For example, at intersections and sharp bends. Think of measures related to infrastructure and passive or active markings. Or alternatives to lighting, such as road markings and a lighter road surface.
- In existing situations, no lighting will be added. We are looking at what can go away.
- We do not place lights in the outdoor area for social safety. We want to avoid false security.