Concern over increasing air pollution in Newhaven

Report to go before Lewes councillors tomorrow which suggests that East Sussex town should be declared an Air Quality Management Area

An Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) is expected to be declared in Newhaven due to increasing air pollution from traffic in the East Sussex town.

According to detailed assessment of the town’s air quality due to go before Lewes district council’s cabinet tomorrow (February 13), annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide at three monitoring sites in Newhaven may have breached national objectives in 2010.

Lewes district council map of the Newhaven gyratory road in East Sussex

The national objective for annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide is 40 micrograms per cubic metre. However, raw diffusion tube monitoring data shows that the annual average breached this objective at several roadside sites: Lewes Road (42.9 micrograms); 9 Southway (60.2 micrograms); and 16 Southway (52.8 mirograms).

The ‘Detailed Review and Assessment of Air Quality in Newhaven’ and an accompanying report will recommend that councillors at tomorrow’s meeting give approval for the assessment to be sent to Defra.

Defra is then ‘likely’ to require the district council to declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in Newhaven due to increasing traffic pollution, according to the report.

Declaration of an AQMA enables local authorities to more closely monitor pollution levels as well as allowing them to bid for special government funding for schemes to improve air quality.

via Concern over increasing air pollution in Newhaven | AirQualityNews.