Air quality

Air quality is the quality of the air we breathe. This is influenced by a great number of air pollutants, which are emitted from a wide range of sources. It is the aim of the Council to ensure that the air we breathe is of such a quality that it does not adversely affect the health of the residents of the Lewes District. We do this by assessing whether concentrations of 7 key pollutants will exceed nationally agreed air quality objectives at outside locations where the public may be exposed for extended periods of time such homes, schools and recreational grounds.

Air Quality

Some air pollutants, or proportions of them, are generated locally, where as others, such as ozone are generated elsewhere and transported over long distances and therefore must be controlled nationally by central government and international agreements between countries.

Under the Environment Act 1995, local authorities are required to review and assess air quality on a regular basis. A review of air quality means a consideration of the levels of pollutants in the air for which objectives are prescribed in Regulations, and estimations of likely future levels. An assessment of air quality is the consideration of whether estimated levels for the relevant future period are likely to exceed the levels set in the objectives. The process is divided into stages depending upon the levels of pollutants being emitted.

The first review and assessment round for Lewes District Council was completed in July 2000 and concluded that the national air quality objectives were not likely to be exceeded at any locations in the District. For a copy of the document containing information on the findings of the first round, please see the 'Relevant Documents' section on the right of this page.

The second round of review and assessment was commenced in 2003. The first stage of review and assessment - known as an Updating and Screening Assessment ("USA") - aimed to determine whether there have been any significant changes in air quality since the first round of review and assessment, and also to compare the current position with likely future air quality targets.  For a copy of the USA document, please see the 'Relevant documents' section to the right of this page.

The USA concluded that we had to progress to a more detailed assessment of air quality within Lewes town centre. We undertook a Detailed Assessment in 2004, focussing on two pollutants, nitrogen dioxide and fine particulates (PM10) at locations beside busy roads and in the centre of Lewes, where streets are narrow and traffic can be congested. Read the Detailed Assessment along with an Executive Summary for more information. See the relevant documents section of this page.

The Detailed Assessment (September 2004) concluded that pollution levels in Fisher Street (Lewes town centre) were likely to exceed the annual mean air quality objective for nitrogen dioxide and an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) for nitrogen dioxide was declared in June 2005 in the town centre.

A Progress Report (August 2005) confirmed that the AQMA in Lewes town centre should be maintained.

A "Further Assessment" was carried out a year later (August 2006) to provide a detailed understanding of the sources of emissions contributing to the nitrogen dioxide pollution in the Lewes town centre AQMA area and consider a series of scenarios that were based on changing conditions. For a copy of this further assessment, please see the 'Relevant documents' section to the right of this page.

The report concluded that Cars as a group were the main individual group of sources.  Although in some locations, the contribution from Cars was almost equalled by either Buses or Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs).  The contribution from Buses and HGVs combined, exceeded that of Cars and Vans combined for the sites investigated.  The contribution of the background sources also formed a major part of the total predicted nitrogen oxides at each site investigated.  The results of the Further Assessment work will be used to identify potential actions to improve air quality locally.

Joint working with the County Council and other relevant bodies is necessary to implement viable measures to reduce levels of air pollution in the centre of Lewes through the Action Plan.  The aim of the Action Plan is also to encourage active participation in the achievement of action plan measures by consulting the local community and raising awareness of air pollution issues.

The third round of review and assessment has commenced in 2006.  The 2006 USA full document concluded that the Council needs to perform a Detailed Assessment in Newhaven.  New monitoring results also showed that an extension of the AQMA in the Lewes town centre may be needed. For a copy of the full document, please see the 'Relevant documents' section to the right of this page.

Consultation

The Council completed its Updating and Screening Assessment and the Further Assessment reports in August 2006 and has since consulted DEFRA, who have accepted the conclusions of the report. The report will now be issued to the statutory consultees as listed in the Environment Act 1995.

Comments from other bodies, as well as members of the public are also welcome.  The closing date for the consultation is the 5th March 2007.  For copies of the above reports, please see the 'Relevant Documents' section to the right of this page.

Sussex Air Quality Steering Group

In undertaking this work to date we have drawn on the assistance of the Sussex Air Quality Steering Group (SAQSG). The relevant external link to their website can be found at the bottom of this page. The group was formed in 1995 as a response both to central government, who had produced a document "Air Quality: Meeting the Challenge", and to local work examining air quality in Sussex. The group is made up of representatives from City, Borough and District Councils in East and West Sussex, East and West Sussex County Councils, East Sussex, Brighton and Hove and West Sussex Health Authorities, the Environment Agency, the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton.

Daily forecasting of air quality for Lewes and its surrounding areas is also available from the SAQSG website. The SAQSG and East and West Sussex County Councils sponsor this service. The data is placed on the web site by the independent consultants, the Environmental Research Group at Kings College London. They examine our data daily, weekly and quarterly to ensure that it is reliable and representative.

The council has been actively involved in European funded projects with neighbouring authorities in France. Through one of these projects the Council gained match funding to enable us to purchase a sophisticated air quality monitor to continually take readings of a pollutant known as particulate matter. Monitoring of Nitrogen Dioxide (using passive diffusion tubes) is carried out at a large number of locations throughout the district. See the results since the monitoring began in 1996. The council also takes part in the UK Nitrogen Dioxide network. Some of our results compared with other locations can be found on the UK Air Quality Archive website (see relevant external link at the bottom of this page).

For more information on air quality please visit the Sussex Air Quality Steering Group website - the relevant external link can be found at the bottom of this page.

Pollution Prevention and Control permits

The Council authorises potentially polluting processes throughout the district under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, part 1 to ensure that emissions are within government standards. Currently 28 different processes are authorised by the Council. A public register, containing copies of the authorisations is available to be viewed in the Council offices at Southover House, Southover Road, Lewes.

Construction sites - dust

Most types of construction, demolition and other building operations can cause problems from dust. Large scale building projects often cause the most significant problems but even small scale works, such as block paving a driveway, can cause problems if they are carried out without consideration for neighbours.
While the dust arising from building works cannot be completely prevented the Council does have powers to control these activities if complaints are received.

Contractors must take steps to ensure that dust from their activities does not cause problems. These measures include using netting, spraying water onto access roads, covering stockpiles and using equipment that minimises dust emissions. The contractors should be aware of daily weather conditions and be able to adjust their activities accordingly.

The Council can serve a notice imposing requirements as to how construction works should be carried out so as to minimise dust.

Construction sites - bonfires

Burning of waste materials on site is not acceptable. There are only limited exceptions to this. Besides being antisocial it is likely to be an offence under the Clean Air Act and the Environmental Protection Act. 

• Burning of waste such as plastics or roofing felt leading to the emission of black smoke is an offence under the Clean Air Act. Prosecutions can be taken if evidence of burning is found on site and can result in a fine of up to £20,000.

• Burning of waste which causes a smoke nuisance is an offence under the Part III of Environmental Protection Act and can result in a fine of up to £20,000.

• Burning of waste is improper disposal of controlled waste and this is an offence under the Part I of Environmental Protection Act. The Council will report details of incidents to the Environment Agency for prosecution.

If you have any questions about construction sites or would like to report a problem site please contact the Environment and Health Department on 01273 471600 or by email at ehealth@lewes.gov.uk.

The following external link goes to the Sussex Air Quality Partnership website (Sussex-air) where you can find out about them, the air quality near you, air alert forecasts for Sussex and more
www.sussex-air.net/

The UK Air Quality Archive website has the summary of the latest air pollution levels, forecasts for the next 24 hours, latest news, data, monitoring, research and more
www.airquality.co.uk/archive/

Find out what the local air pollution is like today for the Brighton, Worthing and Littlehampton area via the external link below to the UK Air Quality Archive website
www.airquality.co.uk/archive/poll_sum.php?agglomeration=1&zone_id=24

The external link below goes to the London Air Quality Network website where you can find out the latest news, monitoring sites, statistics, episodes, pollution guide, reports, download data and much more
www.londonair.org.uk/london/