A project to turn a beauty spot into a dark sky friendly zone has won an award.
External lighting at Loggerheads Country Part in the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Beauty (AONB) has been changed to improve the quality of the night skies in the area.
The work won the Good Lighting Award from the Commission for Dark Skies, an organisation which aims to protect the night sky for star gazing.
The LED lights, which operate on multiple motion sensors, are fully shielded so there is no upward spill and light is directed only to where it is needed and the lighting scheme was designed in-house by Denbighshire County Council.
Emlyn Jones, the Council’s Head of Service for Countryside, said: “We are delighted to get this award and recognition from the Commission for Dark Skies.
“The LED lights are more efficient than traditional lights and the colour temperature is a softer yellower light.
“The work at Loggerheads shows that protecting our night skies doesn’t mean turning our lights off – it means having the correct amount of light carefully directed to the places we need it, at the times we need it.
“Poor lighting has can be harmful to biodiversity by disrupting insect patterns of behaviour which has a knock on effect across the ecosystem while light pollution has also been shown to have a negative impact on our own mental health.”
The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB includes land in Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham and is managed by the three county councils with Denbighshire County Council as the lead authority for the joint AONB committee.
Following a public consultation last year, the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB is in the process of applying for Dark Sky Community status with the International Dark Sky Association.
Dark Skies status provides advice and guidance for developers and others on good lighting design in the AONB with the aim to guarantee astronomers, enthusiasts and casual observers can actually see the night sky in all its glory.
