The Good Practice Guidance (GPG) demonstrates excellence in planning for the natural environment by moving beyond controlling light pollution to proactively planning for sustainable, healthy and resilient places that protect and enhance the environment for wildlife and people. The GPG recognises dark skies as an essential natural resource, dark-sky-friendly lighting and reducing light pollution are the simplest, quickest and most cost-effective way to make visible, positive changes for our communities. The GPG was initiated and delivered by a collaborative working group and is a unique planning-led tool to deliver multiple positive outcomes from reducing, removing and carefully designing lighting schemes.

The judges said: "The Good Practice Guidance Planning for Dark Skies in Wales is a strong planning-led guidance project with clear national reach and a distinctive focus on dark skies as a natural resource. It demonstrates good planner leadership, cross-sector collaboration, Welsh Government endorsement, practical policy tools and early measurable outcomes, including engagement, authority adoption and energy/carbon savings from related retrofit work."