Hi there
I had a chat with Winston Gray, the Kaikoura Mayor yesterday at the Kaikoura A&P Show. He confirmed the street lighting in the town is being changed to help protect the Hutton’s shearwater birds, which get disorientated with the street lighting and crash land in the town.
A dark sky reserve / park isn’t something which has been thought of by the council. At the moment there is a shortage of accommodation, at least over the summer months and has been fully booked most nights so far this summer. The largest accommodation provider at present only has 31 beds and not all of the providers are back up and running since the earthquake. So the town wouldn’t really be able to cope with anymore summer attractions – at the moment.
But there is a 120-bed hotel being built by Sudima which is due to open next summer and the other accommodation is slowly being repaired. And the council, Destination Kaikoura and the iSite are keen to explore winter attractions, as the town goes dead from May to September.
Winston noted there is no public observatory in the town, but there are one or two private individuals with telescopes. While it is not a project the council could take on at this stage, if there was a group of local astronomers who were keen and who drove the project as a winter attraction, he saw no reason why such an initiative couldn’t work and get council support. He also believed the local runanga could be approached.
He also said the Clarence Valley, well away from the town, is particularly impressive for stargazing on a clear night.