Government funding snub puts air quality plans at risk

Plans to combat air pollution in Brighton and Hove may have been scuppered after a bid for Government funding was turned down.
Cllr Gill Mitchell speaks out after a funding bid for air qualiy improvement was droppedCllr Gill Mitchell speaks out after a funding bid for air qualiy improvement was dropped
Cllr Gill Mitchell speaks out after a funding bid for air qualiy improvement was dropped

Deputy council leader Gill Mitchell has today (March 6) warned that the Government could be depriving Brighton and Hove of millions of pounds in funding to help air quality in the city.

This comes after Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) rejected a £1.7 million joint funding bid from the council and local bus operators to improve the city’s air quality.

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The council has used previous Defra funding to fit 76 buses and 22 taxis with clean air technology, and had plans to carry out the same work on another 95 buses from this bid.

But Cllr Mitchell fears ministers have dropped Brighton and Hove from their Air Quality Action Plans after changing the focus from local authority information to national data.

Defra’s only air quality monitoring station in the city is in the middle of Preston Park which shows the council to be ‘compliant’ as a Local Emission Zone (LEZ) area.

However, Cllr Mitchell believes a monitoring station in the middle of a park cannot fully represent the air quality throughout the city, a matter the Brighton & Hove Independent flagged up more than two years ago.

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The only other monitoring station in the area is based in Worthing.

Brighton and Hove is part of the Brighton-Worthing-Littlehampton group when national air quality is being assessed in the South-East, and the council thinks this overall picture could be the reason why the bid from the city council was refused.

Cllr Mitchell said: “By only monitoring the results of just these two stations, the national assessment is not presenting a representative picture of air quality in the city and classifies us as ‘compliant’ even though we have two established Air Quality Management Areas demonstrating local exceedances.

“Defra is now focusing on its national model and assessment results and not on local evidence provided by local authorities. We are fearful that the Government has, in effect, dropped the Brighton-Worthing-Littlehampton agglomeration from its National Air Quality Action Plan.”

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The areas which exceed legal limits for air quality are central Brighton, including Lewes Road and North St, and a small part of Rottingdean High Street.

In the letter she calls on the city’s three MPs Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton Kemptown), Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavilion) and Peter Kyle (Hove) to raise the issue with the Government.

Cllr Mitchell said: “I would be pleased if you could draw ministers’ attention to these basic problems with the national air quality model that are now potentially excluding Brighton and Hove from accessing funding, not just from Defra but possibly the Department for Transport and the Office of Low Emission Vehicle grants to the value of many millions.

“We have improved air quality in the city by making full use of the grants we have received for cleaner vehicles and firmer evidence, and have plans to do more.

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“According to our monitoring data for North Street and Western Road in Brighton, lower emission buses have had a sizeable effect over the last five years on the quality of the air that we breathe, bringing us closer to legal limits. But there is a lot more to do.”

Peter Kyle, the MP for Hove, said: “The council have done great work with previous grants and I congratulate Councillor Gill Mitchell and the team. According to monitoring data for North Street and Western Road in Brighton, lower emission buses have had a sizeable effect over the last five years on the quality of the air that we breathe, bringing us closer to legal limits.

“However, there is a lot more to do and the Defra grant would have enabled the council to continue that.

“So today I have written to Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural affairs to ask the council here is supported in their efforts to clean up air quality and that for grant assessment purposes local evidence is taken into consideration.”

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Chris Todd, from Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth (BHFOE), backed the council’s concerns but said it could be doing more to improve air quality in the city.

He said: “I fully support the council’s concern that is has lost out on investment in cleaner buses. Unfortunately the Government has shown itself to be totally inept when it comes to tackling air pollution having been hauled up in front of the courts three times for its lack of action. It’s also previously claimed that Brighton and Hove had ‘safe’ levels of air pollution when that clearly isn’t the case.

“Having said that I also firmly believe that the council could be doing more. Rephasing the lights at The Clock Tower would allow buses to travel in both directions at the same time, reducing delays and pollution on North Street. It would also be safer for pedestrians but the council has done nothing to address this issue. It also recently approved the redevelopment of Preston Barracks with a big increase in car parking which is very likely to increase air pollution in Lewes Road.

“Tackling air pollution needs a coordinated approach at both local and national Government. If all the politicians can do is blame each other, very little happens and we all lose out and continue to have to breath toxic air.”