A single smoke control area will restrict what can be burnt – and how – across most of Brighton and Hove after senior councillor agreed to extend existing restrictions.
Brighton has had a number of smoke control areas since the 1970s. The five existing areas mainly cover the centre of Brighton, Lewes Road, Hanover, Bevendean and the Montpelier estate.
Now, Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet has approved the creation of a single zone covering the built-up area and the “urban fringe”.
A cabinet report said that Brighton and Hove had one of the highest densities of wood-burning stoves in the country – about 7,500 or roughly 88 stoves per square kilometre.
In the winter months, Brighton and Hove has high levels of “small particulate matter” known as PM2.5 which is linked with heart and lung health problems.
Labour councillor Tim Rowkins, the council’s cabinet member for environmental services and net zero, said that it was the council’s fundamental responsibility to protect residents’ lives and health.
He said that figures from Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in 2023 found that domestic burning of solid fuel was the latest single source of PM 2.5 pollution in the country.
A year later, real-time air quality measurements started in Brighton and Hove and found pollution from solid fuels was a problem across the area.
Councillor Rowkins said: “I don’t believe you can look at this data and not feel compelled to act.”
He added: “It is not a ban on wood burners. It is also not a ban on barbecues – in fact SCA (smoke control area) legislation applies only to buildings and so doesn’t cover any form of outdoor burning.
“The aim of an SCA is to ensure that any burning that does happen is as clean as possible.
“That means either only burning fuels on the DEFRA approved list or using an approved appliance.”
Green councillor Kerry Pickett said that she had previously called for such action because air pollution was costing the country £27 billion a year and was linked to asthma, cancer and dementia.
She called for more education on the issue and some form of enforcement and penalties to ensure that people complied with the restrictions.
Councillor Pickett said: “I have been working closely with some great local campaigners, many of whom are consultants at our hospitals, who see first-hand the effects of airborne pollutants on people.
“In particular, on children’s and older people’s health, especially in areas such as the Lewes Road.
“The evidence of the harm caused by dirty air, even at low levels, has risen rapidly and scientists now think it damages every organ in the body.”
Councillor Rowkins replied by saying that it was important to be led by the evidence and not to act “off the cuff”.
Having the data from the 54 sensors across Brighton and Hove, with live readings, had provided the evidence – and people had better awareness of the concerns linked to solid fuels.
DEFRA awarded the council almost £90,000 over four years, with £40,000 still to come, to tackle smoke pollution.
The council said that the cost of the new smoke control area communications and enforcement patrols were expected to cost £8,000 in the current financial year and £6,850 in 2027-28.
