Last month the rising levels of air pollution in Brighton & Hove made Headlines, prompting the question: what are the plans to protect the town’s population?

From Bad to Worse
Actually to the people of Hollingdean this is an old question. Council officials readily admit that the air quality west of the Lewes Road and as far as the former abattoir site in Hollingdean is poor. So poor, due to traffic congestion in low lying land, that the council designated it an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) a long time ago, PRIOR to the decision to install a dump there in fact..

Hence, recent pious remarks about air pollution do not quite ring true. Giving the OK for a dump was a COUNCIL DECISION TO INCREASE AIR POLLUTION for residents, in an existing AQMA, and across the city. Perhaps their concern is reserved for visitors? 504 dump truck trips and a further 66 HUGE articulated 44 tonne lorries will enter and depart every day.(That’s one every 6 minutes) All diesel: particulates. NB This is not an “occasional visit” area, this is where thousands of Brightonians LIVE and where children from all over the town go to school.(But there was no legal requirement for planning consent to consider health implications at the time, so the topic was effectively ignored.)

Not exactly GREEN…. Council Admit Their Decision Raises Air Pollution
Earlier this year there was a meeting at the Ofsted-commended Downs Infants School to discuss the problems of developing a 200,000 tonne dump next to the school playground. Martin Randall, the council’s Assistant Director of Planning, Environmental Health officer Tim Nicholls and his boss Judith Macho attended. When parents asked the council officers if such heavy vehicles (apart from extra traffic jams) would make the pollution worse in the AQMA of Hollingdean, they said it would.

So what, asked parents and residents, was the council’s master-plan to deal with this pollution problem? “We will consult the local population” was the officers’ chilling response. Chilling, as “Consultation” occurred when it placed the dump in our town. In that “Consultation” no issue raised by residents got a response: Not the serious health risks posed by the dump itself; or children’s education taking place beside a busy lorry arena; or the air pollution reaching for miles in all directions; or the danger of such large vehicles on these roads in general, roads which are used by hundreds of kids of all ages who do the ‘right’ thing and walk to their schools; nor the fact that the roads are so small that these massive articulated lorries can barely fit between the houses or through the bridge; etc etc.

DtD will not rest until the council has a responsible, modern, Waste Plan. The alternatives need to be explained. A Human Rights Court case is being prepared. The council has been asked to act on Government, EU, US and WHO health warnings. Reply awaited. Support the campaign, join in…It is truly fascinating stuff, especially if you like science or politics..or people.

Can you help financially? Funds are essential to fight this thoughtless scheme. Send donations, big or small, payable to: Dump the Dump, at 2 May Cottages Hollingdean Rd BN2 4AP. Or give through Paypal / Visa debit card at the DtD website; http://www.dumpthedump.org.uk