Dark Sky Coordinating Committee
Council Representatives:
- Cr Sally Collins – Chair
- Cr Mark Dabner
Events Calendar
Saturday 14 November, from 7.30pm
Dark Sky Sidewalk Astronomy night
Muunatrikar/Stanley – at Tatlows Beach, near the car park adjacent to the Caravan Park
On the next Saturday after the full moon, the Circular Head Dark Sky team will be setting up near the car park adjacent to the Stanley Caravan Park Muunatrikar/Stanley from around 7.30pm.
Come along, look up and learn a little more about our night sky. If you have a telescope or binoculars, bring them along. If you don’t, that’s absolutely fine too.Come and have a look, ask questions and let us show you a few things along the way.
We’ll be there even if it’s cloudy – this is also about meeting people, sharing knowledge and getting a feel for how these evenings could work.
Our dark skies are worth celebrating for many reasons. For Aboriginal people, the sky is part of Country – Sky Country – holding stories, knowledge and connections stretching back thousands of generations. Protecting our dark skies also helps keep that connection visible for generations to come.
We’re hoping to make these evenings a regular thing, around the first Saturday after each full moon. We’ll learn as we go and keep you posted.
Our Dark Sky journey
Circular Head has a natural asset that many places around the world are losing – genuinely dark night skies.
That sparked an idea: could we protect and celebrate our dark skies, while creating new opportunities for our community and our region?
One way to do that is through the International Dark Sky Places Program, a worldwide program that recognises places committed to protecting their night skies and nocturnal environment.
For Circular Head, working towards International Dark Sky accreditation could help us protect something naturally special about our region, strengthen our connection with place and culture, encourage responsible lighting, create opportunities for learning and astronomy, and develop new experiences for locals and visitors.
It could also bring international recognition and new tourism and economic opportunities to our region.
Importantly, accreditation isn't simply about earning a title. The journey towards it is an opportunity to better understand, protect, experience and celebrate our dark skies.
How does this fit with Vision 2050?
The Dark Sky initiative strongly aligns with Circular Head Vision 2050 – our community's long-term vision for the future of our region.
In particular, it brings together aspirations across Environment, Place, Economy and Community.
It is about protecting an important part of our natural environment and recognising that our dark skies are part of what makes Circular Head special.
It is about our connection with place – including culture, stories, nature and the way people experience our region.
It creates opportunities to build on our existing strengths through sustainable tourism, visitor experiences, education and potentially new economic activity.
And importantly, it creates an opportunity for our community to be involved in shaping, protecting and celebrating something that belongs to all of us.
In many ways, Dark Sky brings these aspirations together around something Circular Head already has – an exceptional natural night sky.
What has happened so far?
Council established the Dark Sky Coordinating Committee to explore the opportunity and what would be required to work towards International Dark Sky accreditation.
Five areas of work were identified and working groups formed to progress them:
- Cultural – culture, stories and connection with place.
- Infrastructure – lighting and infrastructure.
- Accreditation – understanding and progressing the accreditation pathway.
- Visitor Experience – opportunities for locals and visitors to experience our night skies.
- Communications and Engagement – keeping our community informed and creating opportunities to participate.
Considerable work is now happening across these areas.
Where are we now?
The initiative is moving from its early investigation and planning stage into a more public phase.
That means it's time to start bringing our broader community into the journey.
We don't have all the answers and not everything has been decided. Rather than waiting until everything is finished, we'll progressively share what we know, what we're exploring and what we're learning.
This will include more information about what Dark Sky means, why our naturally dark skies are worth protecting, what is happening across the five areas of work and what the pathway towards International Dark Sky accreditation involves.
Most importantly, there will be increasing opportunities for residents, businesses, schools, community organisations and others to learn, ask questions, participate and get involved.
Where are we heading?
International Dark Sky accreditation is an important goal, but the ambition is bigger than accreditation alone.
From the beginning, the vision has been for a jointly owned and community-led Dark Sky strategy.
Over time, we want this to grow from something being progressed by Council, the Dark Sky Coordinating Committee and its working groups into something increasingly understood, supported and participated in by the Circular Head community.
Ultimately, we want to be able to say:
Our community is working together to protect and celebrate Circular Head's dark skies.
Keeping up with the journey
We are developing a Communications and Engagement Plan to guide how we communicate and create opportunities for people to participate as the initiative grows.
This will include considering the project's future branding and identity, website, information materials, signage and ongoing community engagement.
For now, the Dark Sky Coordinating Committee page on Council's website is the main source of information about the initiative.
We'll continue adding information and updates here as the project progresses, so our community has one place to come back to and follow the journey.