{"id":509739,"date":"2026-02-28T13:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T13:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/509739\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T13:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T13:19:09","slug":"funding-will-help-future-generations-stargaze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/509739\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Funding will help future generations stargaze’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A \u00a3227,000 grant will “ensure that we don’t lose our stars to light pollution”, an organisation has said.<\/p>\n

Northumberland Coast National Landscape (NCNL) said it would use National Lottery Heritage funding to protect dark skies on its coastline.<\/p>\n

Some of the money will be used to create accessible Dark Sky Discovery sites on the coast at Warkworth, Alnmouth, Bamburgh, Cocklawburn and near Dunstanburgh Castle, with tilted benches for a better view of the night sky.<\/p>\n

It will also fund education outreach, pollution monitoring and the retrofitting of motion-sensor “dark sky friendly lighting” on farms.<\/p>\n

NCNL said the coastline from the coquet estuary at Amble to Berwick-upon-Tweed was already “intrinsically dark” because of the North Sea, but that artificial light had been steadily growing.<\/p>\n

Project officer of the NCNL’s Dark Skies Project Theia Batchelor said on a clear night people could see the Milky Way with the naked eye.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got really good habitats already for insects, birds, bats – but it’s being able to improve on them even more” she said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Milky Way can be seen from Holy Island [Dru Dodd]<\/p>\n

Light pollution is excessive outdoor light which can come from things like street lights and advertising and can affect wildlife.<\/p>\n

Batchelor said NCNL was setting up surveys to measure night level pollution in the area.<\/p>\n

It was also working on groundworks to make the new Dark Sky Discovery sites suitable for wheelchair access and installing angled posts for people to take pictures on their mobile phones.<\/p>\n

“The angle of the post will get you a really nice picture of the night sky with a bit of the coast in as well,” she said.<\/p>\n

Batchelor said the project would build on work already started by “passionate community members”.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Northern lights spotted at the refuge hut on the causeway leading to Holy Island [PA Media]<\/p>\n

The organisation is led by the North East Combined Authority and funded by Defra and Northumberland County Council.<\/p>\n

NCNL partnership chair Patrick Norris said: “This project will ensure that we don’t lose our stars to light pollution and that night-time tranquillity can be experienced for generations to come.”<\/p>\n

Follow BBC North East on X<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, Nextdoor<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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