Lewes District Air Quality Action Plan
Lewes District Council has produced a draft Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP). This outlines the actions the council will take to improve air quality in Lewes 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.
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 Lewes District Air Quality Action Plan (this link will open in a new window).
Have your say
We are inviting feedback on the the draft action plan via this survey.
Please complete the survey by 5pm on Friday 15 May 2025.