Letter : Light up the millennium

Sir: Peter Smith of the Royal Institute of British Architects (letters, 14 August) urges the Millennium Commission to encourage energy saving in the projects it supports and raises concern about light pollution.

One of the commission's central criteria for making awards is that projects should be of a high environmental quality, and this includes energy use. In the case of Church Floodlighting, which is the only such project which has received a grant so far, we required that high standards of energy efficiency would be met and light pollution would be avoided as far as possible. Of course, there will be some relatively small increase in light pollution but this should be balanced by the pleasure brought to many people who will enjoy the spectacle. Only 400 churches will be floodlit - fewer than 1 per cent of all churches in the UK.

JENNIFER A PAGE

Chief Executive

The Millennium Commission

London SW1