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Air Quality Management
Since 1998, we've been monitoring the quality of the air to make sure it reaches the Government’s national standard.
The quality of air across most of Hastings & St Leonards reaches the national standard. However, on a small part of the Bexhill road, levels of Particulate Matter (PM) are above the required standard.
As a result, an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) has to be declared and an Air Quality Action Plan (AQPA) prepared.
Where is the Particulate Matter coming from?
Hastings & St Leonards, like all of Southern England, has very high background levels of Particulate Matter (PM). This comes from Europe and elsewhere in England. PM is a very fine dust and comes from industry, road traffic, tyre and brake disc debris, sea salt and biological particles.
European governments are working together to reduce these levels and they are falling. It is predicted that by 2006 levels will lower enough to let Bexhill Road meet standards.
The high numbers of slow moving traffic, added to the background levels, has resulted in our decision to declare Bexhill Road as an Air Quality Management Area.
What happens next?
Hastings Borough Council, Rother District Council, East Sussex County Council and the Highways Agency will be working with residents to create the Air Quality Action Plan with the aim of reducing pollution levels.
In September, you will be invited to meet officers working on the Air Quality Management Area and Action Plan to give us your views about how we can work together to lower traffic and pollution levels. Hastings Borough Council has found that PM levels are high along Bexhill Road and do not meet the Government set standard. It is proposed that the area inside the red line will form the Air Quality Management Area.
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Health Effects
If your health is good, the air pollution we usually get in Hastings & St Leonards is unlikely to have any serious short-term ill effects.
Smoking is likely to have a much more serious effect on your health than air pollution. However, people with lung diseases or heart conditions are at greater risk, especially if they are elderly.
If you have a heart condition and you notice a change in your symptoms, get health advice as you normally would. Do not try to change your treatment yourself.
If you feel you are suffering ill health you are advised to contact your local GP.
If you have eye, nose or throat irritation consult your local chemist for advice.
Further information about the health effects of air pollutants.
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Technical Documents
The following technical documents give information about how and why we have decided to declare an Air Quality Management Area along a section of the Bexhill Road (A259).
Updating and Screening Assessment
The Updating and Screening Assessment is a formal document about Air Quality in Hastings & St Leonards, as part of the Government’s National Air Quality Strategy. We started monitoring the quality of the air in 1998. This document sets out the pollutants we have been monitoring, the levels they are at and whether these levels are likely to increase. Using special methods, it is possible to predict whether these air pollutants are going to be a problem in the future. This document concludes that across most of the town, the air meets the Government’s air quality targets. However, around the Bexhill Road area, more detailed work must be carried out to investigate the levels of particulate matter.
Download the document:
Detailed Assessment
The Detailed Assessment is a technical document and has been sent to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The document sets out how we have investigated and monitored particulate matter levels along the Bexhill Road. It is very detailed and includes graphs showing levels of traffic against levels of particulate matter, levels of pollutant compared against the times of day and maps of where the pollutant is most concentrated. This detailed assessment has led to the decision to declare an Air Quality Management Area.
Download the document:
Further Assessment of Air Quality
The Further Assessment of Air Quality for the Air Quality Management Area in Bulverhythe (November 2004) is the next step in the Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) process following the Council's designation of an air quality management area (AQMA) along the A259 through Bulverhythe, and follows the the guidance by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) relating to such further assessments.
Download the document:
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Further Information
Visit www.sussex-air.net for further information.
