Lewes District Council

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Environmental Health
Lewes District Council
Southover House
Southover Road
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 1AB


Tel: 01273 484354
ehealth@lewes.gov.uk
Minicom 01273 484488

Find Southover House
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External Links

• Air Alert
• Sussex Air
• UK Air Quality Archive
• Defra: Air Quality Strategy (PDF)

Air Quality

Information on air quality for the Lewes district, pollutant types and health effects and Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) reports.

In the Lewes district, the air quality is expected to meet Air Quality Objectives with the exception of the annual mean standards for nitrogen dioxide.

Lewes Air Quality Management Area

In 2005 an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) was declared in Lewes town centre for this pollutant. The major polluting source in the town is from road traffic. Air quality is a subject in the forefront of people's minds and to keep everybody informed of the levels of pollution, air quality bulletins are published daily on the Sussex air website.

• Sussex Air

Some may recall the great smogs of the 1950’s which resulted in thousands of premature deaths. These pollutant laden fogs were a product of huge quantities of coal being burned for both domestic and industrial use and thankfully are a thing of the past.

The Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968 followed and since then improved legislation and tougher air quality targets have reduced pollution episodes, but they still do occur.

In the winter months winter smogs are formed due to temperature inversion weather conditions. Across the South of England, photochemical summer smogs occur resulting in high concentrations of low-level (tropospheric) ozone.

All of the pollutants monitored in Lewes district can have adverse health effects if in large enough concentrations. Although there is limited evidence that pollution from road traffic causes asthma, poor air quality can bring on symptoms to those who have respiratory problems.

This is why Lewes District Council will continue to monitor the air quality and issue warnings to Air Alert users when the air quality is forecast to be poor enough to give possible problems.

• Air Alert

 

Air Quality Monitoring

We currently run three real time air quality monitoring stations that continuously monitor the quality of the air 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. These monitoring stations monitor the pollutants that are currently of most concern. The data we collect can be found online:

• Sussex Air Quality: Latest Readings
  

The data collected is essential to ensure that we can work towards improving air quality as it allows us to target the areas of most concern and just as importantly identify the principal cause or source of that pollution.

We are a key member of the Sussex Air Quality Steering Group which was formed in 1995 in response to the challenge of improving air quality.

• Air Alert 
  

Clean Air Act 1993 - Chimney Height Approvals

When a new boiler or other heating plant is to be installed it is necessary to obtain approval for the height of the chimney to be used in conjunction with the appliance.  The Clean Air Act 1993 makes it an offence to cause or knowingly permit a furnace to be used to:

• burn pulverised fuel, or
• burn any solid matter at a rate of 45.4kg or more an hour, or
• burn any liquid or gaseous matter at a rate equivalent to 366.4kW or more, unless the height of the chimney has been approved by the Council and any conditions attached to approval have been complied with.
  

Apply for Chimney Height Approval

To receive an application form please contact:

• Tel: 01273 484354
• ehealth@lewes.gov.uk  

The application for chimney height approval must contain adequate information to enable the necessary calculations to be carried out. 

We must give a written decision on the application within 28 days of its receipt, unless it is agreed in writing with the applicant that a longer period is allowed. This is sometimes necessary to ensure that all necessary information has been received.

The chimney height is deemed approved if the Council does not respond to the application within the 28 day period.