On 6 April 2006, the Cleaner Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 added new categories of ‘statutory nuisance’ to the Environmental Protection Act 1990 including nuisance from artificial lighting:
Section 79 1 fb – “Artificial light emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance”.
There are a number of exemptions for certain premises where high levels of light are required for safety or security reasons including:
Airports
Public service vehicle operating centres
Harbours
Goods vehicle operating centres
Railway premises
Lighthouses
Tramway premises
Prisons
Bus stations and associated facilities
Premises occupied for defence purposes
In addition a statutory defence of ‘best practical means’ is available for:
Artificial light emitted from industrial, trade or business premises; and
Artificial light emitted by lights used for the purpose only of illuminating an outdoor relevant sports facility
The Statutory Nuisances - Artificial Lighting, Designation of Relevant Sports - England Order 2006 provides a list of ‘relevant sports’ and is available on the
Office of Public Sector Information website.
Although street lights are not specifically exempted, they are unlikely to cause an artificial light nuisance, as they are not normally found on “premises”.
The focus of the legislation is on domestic security lighting however care must be taken when determining artificial light nuisance from such a source. Few instances will qualify as a ‘statutory nuisance’ given the specialist meaning of ‘statutory nuisance’ in the legislation.
A statutory nuisance is not just an ‘annoyance’ and it has a narrower meaning than ‘nuisance’ in common law. Statutory nuisances are essentially about public health, and there must be material interference with property or personal comfort. Whilst lights briefly turning on and off - triggered by cats for example - may be irritating, they may not necessarily be considered a statutory nuisance.
