Light emissions can come from many sources including security lights, spot lights and flood lights, advertising signs and entertainment events. Sometimes light can affect neighbours and interfere with their normal activities. If severe enough, it can impact on people's health.
How can I manage light or glare coming from my property?
- Consider where lights are placed to minimise impact on sensitive areas of properties such as bedrooms.
- Avoid placing the light near a reflective surface and use existing features such as shrubs or trees to hide the light source from view.
- Direct light downwards to brighten the target area only.
- Try shields and baffles to help keep spill light to a minimum.
- Fit only the number of light bulbs you need for an area.
- Use low wattage bulbs if possible to reduce light intensity.
- Use a timer or sensor so that lights are only triggered when necessary.
- Turn off lights when they are not in use or not required.
How can I make a report a light or glare issue?
Discuss with your neighbour
People are sometimes unaware that their activities are causing a nuisance. Ipswich City Council encourages all residents to talk to their neighbours first about nuisance problems and only make a report if the issue remains unresolved.
Before you proceed with lodging a complaint, please refer to the below question to see if Council is the appropriate contact for your issue.
Is the light you are concerned about related to a highway/freeway?
If you answered yes, please visit Department of Transport and Main Roads.
If you answered no to the question listed above, please follow the below steps to report your issue to Council. Have the following information ready:
- details of the source and nature of the issue
- where the issue is coming from and how is it affecting you? – i.e. the specific address/location of the nuisance, if you cannot provide the address council may be unable to take action.
- specific information on how often the issue is happening e.g. what time of the day and on what day.
For information on how to report an issue, refer to council's Report an Issue webpage.
Note: Council provides an after hours service so that issues occurring outside of typical business hours are able to be investigated. If you are experiencing issues with a light glare nuisance outside of business hours, please contact Council on 07 3810 6666 when the issue is occurring so that an investigating officer can conduct an inspection and obtain the necessary evidence.
How does Council manage a light or glare pollution nuisance report?
Council will conduct an inspection to determine if the issue is a breach of the relevant legislation, if a determination isn’t able to be made from a public area (eg road/footpath) an officer may attend the residence of the person who has reported the issue to assess the impact to them and their property.
If it is determined that the activity is in breach of the relevant legislation officers may undertake a number of actions depending on the specific circumstances of the issue, these including providing general education, a formal warning, a compliance notice or a fine.