If the ‘Lighter Later’ campaign is successful, clocks would be moved forward an hour throughout the year - meaning that it would be lighter for longer in the evenings.

Campaigners in favour of the change are pinning their hopes on a private member’s bill that will be debated in the House of Common early next month. If MPs give their backing to the bill, there could soon be some respite from the long dark winter nights.

Council leader Edward Lister said:
“We are fully behind this campaign and are calling on MPs to support this bill. Giving people an extra hour’s daylight could transform their lives.

“The extra daylight would undoubtedly make it safer on the roads and would be especially beneficial to children as they travel home from school.

“Changing the clocks to provide more daylight would have environmental and financial benefits too. It would lead to lower household electricity bills and with fewer lights switched on there would be significant reductions in energy usage and carbon emissions.

“Giving people an extra hour of daylight would also open up further opportunities for sports and leisure activities. People could visit parks for longer, and pursue a whole range of outdoor pursuits for later into the evenings.

“We also believe that making this change would not only boost physical health – it would do the same for people’s mental health. It is widely acknowledged that the onset of very long dark winter nights can have a negative impact on some people’s moods and in some cases lead to clinical depression. This change could provide some relief to those problems.

“It is difficult to think of any negatives associated with this change while the benefits could be substantial. That is why we are supporting the ‘Lighter Later’ campaign.”

The organisers of the campaign state: “Everybody loves the sunshine. But every year we set our clocks so that we get less of it in our lives, sleeping through the sunlit mornings while we use expensive, polluting electric lights to keep out the dark nights. Lighter Later is a campaign to brighten all of our days, by changing the clocks so we are awake when the sun is out.

“The idea is simple: we shift the clocks forward by one hour throughout the entire year. We would still put the clocks forward in spring and back in autumn, but we would have moved an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening, when more of us are awake to enjoy it.

To find out more about the campaign visit www.lighterlater.org.

As well as voting on our readers poll you can have your say on the idea by taking part in an online poll on the council’s website. To cast your vote visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/getinvolved.

 

 

November 20, 2010