A West Midlands Car Park has been named as a top spot for stargazers.

The British Astronomical Association has presented an award to public transport promoter Centro for the astronomically friendly design of the car park at Stourbridge Junction, as part of its Campaign for Dark Skies.

The Campaign aims to preserve and restore the beauty of the night sky by protesting against inefficient and irresponsible lighting that shines where it is not wanted or needed. They claim that not only is more responsible lighting easy to achieve and cost effective, but also helps to eradicate the orange mist that hangs over towns and cities at night, destroying the view of the star-lit sky.

Only using lighting where needed can also reduce global warming by cutting down on the millions pounds worth of electricity being wasted each year in the UK through poor illumination.

Martyn Filsak, local officer (Stourbridge) for the British Astronomical Association’s Campaign for Dark Skies said: ‘It is regrettable that many people, especially in towns and cities, install lighting which is not environmentally friendly and implicates those who get enjoyment from viewing the night sky through light pollution.

‘We are delighted to be giving this award to Centro for their unimposing, considerate lighting at Stourbridge Junction park and ride and we hope that other developers and designers in Birmingham, and across Britain will follow their example.

Project Manager Duncan Fry was responsible for managing the extension of the award winning car park at Stourbridge Junction, which opened in June this year, and is one of the biggest park and ride facilities in the West Midlands. Of the award he said: “We are very pleased to receive this honour from the British Astronomical Association.

‘The lighting in the new car park at Stourbridge Junction park and ride has been specifically designed to face downwards so as not to create excess glare into the night sky. We chose environmentally friendly lighting and design in principle so as not to disturb our neighbours, but we are very pleased that local astronomers in the area will also benefit from the sympathetic illumination.’

This is not the first time the West Midlands park and ride facilities have been celebrated for being environmentally friendly. Earlier this year it was revealed that some 2.5million car journeys have been taken off the road due to the schemes saving over 80 tankers of fuel a year.

The award comes at a particularly exciting time for stargazers with a spectacular meteor shower called Ursids peaking on the date the award was granted. It promises to be particularly impressive this year due to its location in the sky and an unobtrusive moon.

Link:  Campaign for Dark Skies website