Word spread quickly in the small Naseby community on Wednesday (May 31) that the township had moved a step closer in its long campaign to achieve certification as a Dark Sky Community.

That step came about when the Central Otago District Council (CODC) voted unanimously at its meeting that Plan Change 22 be notified, providing for the protection, maintenance and enhancement of the night sky in Naseby from the adverse effects of lighting associated with development. 

Community group Naseby Vision began the process back in 2015 or 2016 when some forward-thinking locals started thinking about the possibilities of the town’s dark skies, Naseby Vision chairman Craig Grant said.

The group realised Naseby’s skies were darker than Tekapo in the McKenzie basin, he said. 

Aoraki McKenzie is one of two Dark Sky Reserves accredited with the International Dark-Sky Association, along with the Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve, which was certified in January of this year. 

Naseby would become New Zealand’s first Dark Sky Community on receiving certification.

The CODC decision means the Plan Change will be notified publicly, as required after the Reserves Management Act, with the aim of putting protections into the Central Otago District Plan.

Craig said dark sky certification would be something for the community to be proud of.

“It would be great at putting Naseby on the map more,” he said. 

“Naseby is known for its recreation, its curling and its luge, and mountain-biking - if we get this, it will give people another reason to come to Naseby.”

Fellow Naseby Vision member Jill Wolff has been involved with the campaign since the beginning, and said the CODC decision was “fantastic news”.

“It’s been a long time coming,” she said. “There’s a lot more involved than we thought it would be.”

Jill hoped that getting certified as a dark sky community would be just the beginning for New Zealand, and especially Central Otago.

“It’s consolidating what we already know about Naseby, that the skies are that dark, and protecting the night sky for the future,” Jill said.

Paul Bishop runs Night Sky Tours in Naseby and sees the council decision as “a significant milestone”.

“It will certainly give Naseby the recognition it deserves as a great place to see a dark night sky,” he said.

Paul said more than 650 people had taken his tours and he hoped to launch basic astrophotography tours and private tours later this year.