A new approach to improve air quality and tackle the burning of solid fuels in Brighton & Hove has taken a big step forward with the launch of a new website this week.
The Brighton & Hove and Sussex Real-Time Air Quality Portal is giving residents the opportunity to see real-time air quality readings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The data comes from our new network of air quality sensors, which we’ve been rolling out over the last year. The project, which also includes sensors in the Horsham and Newhaven areas, is the largest network of real-time air quality sensors in the UK.
It’s part of a wider strategy designed to tackle pollution, including that from solid fuels, across the city, its existing six Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) and 5 Smoke Control Areas (SCAs).
Solid fuel burning is a significant source of fine particulate pollution, known as PM2.5. It is a contributing factor to more than 1 in 20 deaths of people over 30 in Brighton & Hove and a huge problem for people with conditions like asthma.
Image: A picture of an air quality sensor
The new website will give people up-to-date information and raise awareness of the impact from vehicle and gas boiler emissions and smoke from log burners and fireplaces can have on air quality in the city.
Fifty sensors placed in various locations across Sussex, including 40 in Brighton & Hove, measure nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particulate matter as well as providing ambient measurements for temperature, pressure and relative humidity.
The indicative sensors complement other Department of Environment approved methods, including council monitoring since the 1990s.
Funded by a Defra air quality grant and the council’s Carbon Neutral Fund, the real-time sensors have been placed in a variety of locations to measure air quality in different environments.
They include:
The new approach to solid fuels includes a public awareness campaign focussed on the impact on public health, and an enforcement pilot within the city’s 5 Smoke Control Areas.
Councillor Tim Rowkins, Cabinet member for Net Zero & Environmental Services, said: “This new network of air quality monitors is a big step forward. It will enable us to build a much more detailed understanding of what kinds of pollution are happening where and at what times. This will be extremely useful as we begin to take action to address particulate pollution from wood-burners and open fireplaces, which have become increasingly popular in recent years.
“The impact on public health is too great to ignore, and there is a lot of work to be done, both locally and nationally, to raise awareness. The new website will help illustrate the role of burning solid fuels, as well as enable residents to see what is happening in their areas.
“The city has 5 Smoke Control Areas, but these have not historically been enforced and many people are not aware that they live in one.
"Our new approach this winter, combined with the new data will help inform our actions next year.”
The new strategy was discussed earlier this month at the Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee and will be reviewed in the spring. By then, the new network of sensors will have been able to collect several months’ worth of data during the traditional solid-fuel-burning season.
