Air quality

Green minibus
Green minibus

Air quality in East Sussex

Each year, air pollution in the UK causes up to 24,000 people to die earlier than they would have.

Most air pollution in East Sussex comes from traffic. Although air quality in the county is generally good, there are problems:

  • ozone pollution is generally worse in East Sussex than anywhere else in the UK
  • there are 'hotspots' of poor air quality at various locations, usually beside roads
  • there are currently two areas in the county where the air quality exceeds the national objectives. These are the A259 Bexhill Road, Hastings and Fisher St, Lewes.

Little is known about the levels of less common pollutants in the county.

Air quality in your area

Sign up for free messages to your mobile or home phone that let you know when poor air-quality is predicted in your area.

Find out about airALERT or get more information on air quality in East Sussex from the Sussex Air website.

What we are doing

We help district and borough councils to regularly review and assess air pollution by carrying out extensive air quality monitoring.

A review in 2005 showed that our air quality generally remains good. Where it is poor, we are working with Hastings borough and Lewes district councils to identify how we can improve the air quality within their air quality management areas and we will include these measures within our Local Transport Plan.

We are a partner in the Sussex Air Quality steering group, which is one of the most established regional air quality networks in the country. Find out more from the Sussex Air Quality website.

For further information, contact us about air quality.