It’s lights out for church cross deemed too bright for complaining neighbors: ‘Divided community’
The Town of Cambridge council in Western Australia has refused the Holy Spirit Church permission to keep an illuminated cross lit above its building, after the bright glow divided residents and drew complaints from neighbors.
Council members turned down the application at a recent meeting after nearby residents objected to the nighttime glow of an 18-foot cross, which hangs above the church, according to Perth Now.
Six complaints reached the council, one from a neighbor who said the brightness disturbed them even behind blackout blinds.
The council had earlier written to 35 of the church’s neighbors inviting comment. All six of the submissions it received opposed the application. One resident said the light shone into their backyard and bedroom and hurt their amenity, the term Australian planners use for the comfort and character of a residential area.
A town report backed keeping the cross in place without any lighting. It found the illumination was clearly visible from nearby homes and public areas at night and judged that this constituted an unreasonable impact on amenity. The light did not suit a low-density residential area, the report said.
The cross rises over 65 feet above the ground and casts a warm-white glow rated at 3000K, or a soft, yellowish white tone, running at full strength from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.
The parish said it had not realized that development approval was needed before lighting the cross. It told the council that a dimmable driver could bring the intensity down to as low as 1%. The town report countered that the church had supplied no amended plan or detail to show what such a change would involve or whether it would ease residents’ concerns.
One councilor pressed for a compromise. Xavier Carr declared an impartiality interest, noting that he had previously attended the neighboring Holy Spirit Primary School and sometimes went to Mass at the church. He told the meeting that some residents living close by wanted the lit cross to remain.
The dispute had split local opinion, Carr was quoted as saying. He called that unfortunate because many people he had spoken to regarded the cross as a symbol of joy and comfort and of Jesus’ love and redemption. Carr voted against the officers’ recommendation to refuse, seeking instead conditions that would cut the light’s strength and its hours.
Mayor Gary Mack disagreed. He said the council was in no position to “second guess” the church’s own wishes and that turning the application down was entirely appropriate. Mack suggested the applicant return to the town’s officers to learn what would be needed to win approval, should it wish to press on.
The church had argued the other way in its submission. It said it could readily find a far larger number of residents from all walks of life in City Beach, a coastal suburb of Perth, who now drew comfort and joy at night from the sight of the lit cross.
The parish called the illumination “The Loving Light of Christ” and the greatest of treasures for people in the Town of Cambridge and beyond.
The church also sought to defuse the complaints. It said it had never meant to upset any neighbor and could certainly reduce the illumination. The parish had approached the electrician who fitted the LED lighting to ask whether the brightness could be lowered.
