Consultation on Lewes District Air Quality Action Plan

The draft plan outlines the actions the Lewes District Council will take to improve air quality across the district between 2025-2029. The action plan is a draft version and will be adopted from Summer 2025.

The plan includes measures which relate to the entire district. There are also measures that have particular focus on central Newhaven and central Lewes town, as both are currently designated as Air Quality Management areas, due to levels of traffic.

Download the draft Lewes District Air Quality Action Plan (PDF, 1 MB) 

Why we need to tackle air pollution

Air pollution is associated with a number of adverse health impacts and is recognised as a contributing factor in the onset of heart disease and cancer.
Additionally, air pollution particularly affects the most vulnerable in society: children and older people, and those with heart and lung conditions. 

The UK Health Security Agency (formally Public Health England) has estimated that the costs of air pollution in England to health and social care services could reach between £5.3 and 18.6 billion between 2018 and 2035. Lewes District Council is committed to reducing the exposure of people in Lewes to poor air quality in order to improve health.

Objectives of the Air Quality Action Plan

We have developed actions that can be considered under five broad themes:

1. Alternatives to private vehicle use
2. Promoting travel alternatives
3. Public information
4. Transport planning and infrastructure
5. Traffic management

The council's proposed actions to help reduce air pollution across the district can be found on page 44 of the draft action plan.  

Have your say

We are inviting feedback on the draft action plan. We have provided an online survey to help structure your feedback. This asks about each of the overarching objectives of the plan, listed above.

Take the survey

The consultation will stay open until 5pm on Friday 15 May 2025.

To request the consultation information in a different language or format, such as paper copy, please email CustomerFirst@lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk