Agenda item - Solid Fuel Burning

35.1    Cllr Rowkins presented to the committee. Key points included: an explanation of the PM2.5 particulates and how they can cause serious health conditions; that each additional microgram correlates to 1% increase in mortality rates; the communications campaign had shown that people didn’t realise solid fuel burning was such a big health problem; that the Smoke Control Areas have not been enforced or publicised in the past; the enforcement pilot took an informative approach rather than punitive where letters were sent rather than fines; they launched the website where the public could view the results of the air monitoring network; the trends are fairly high across the city with amounts being much higher during the heating season; the graph shows that the readings exceed WHO guidance which is significant. There is an increasing number of fuel burners in densely populated areas; solid fuel can be used if the appliance is approved but even DEFRA approved appliances still produce particulates – more work is needed to address this.

35.2    Katy Harker, Consultant in Public Health, presented to the committee. Key points included: Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK, and long-term exposure to air pollution can cause chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer. In Brighton and Hove, 1 in 20 deaths in those aged 30 years or over are estimated to be attributable to particulate air pollution. Short-term exposure can exacerbate asthma, and hospital admission rates for asthma attacks among those under 19 in the city are worse than national and regional averages as well as those of statistical neighbours and are showing a worsening trend. More affluent areas tend to have a higher number of wood burners, although the impact is greater on more deprived areas who tend to have more underlying health conditions and live closer to roads, which compounds the issue.

35.3    Cllr Lyons asked what the plan is for this coming winter, whether they will put out warning signs about buying unapproved logs, are any more monitors going to be put in the city; and whether people can buy their own monitors. Cllr Rowkins said that an awareness campaign is the very least we should be doing; the burning of elm logs has been a problem and the message should change to “don’t burn any logs”, as stated in the addendum, new pollution sensors for Moving Traffic Enforcement will come and additional automatic analysers (air quality monitoring stations) started in Q1 of 2025; and that residents can buy monitors to install in their home but they won’t be able to add to the council data as they are not checked for data quality assurance.

35.4    Cllr Cattell asked about burning pellets, whether a wood burning stove could be adapted to be DEFRA approved and whether particulates come from tyres. Cllr Rowkins said tyre and brakes produce particulates, but the 20mph city centre speed limit means this is not significant. Samuel Rouse said that pellet-fed burners are normally used for commercial purposes and are low for particulates but will let them out when being refuelled. He is not aware whether appliances can be adapted.

35.5    Cllr Sykes was in favour of maintaining the current awareness campaign and extending the Smoke Control Area.

35.6    Cllr Loughran agreed with Cllr Sykes and asked whether the council would engage with retailers of wood burners to ensure consumers are getting the right advice. She was surprised to hear that DEFRA approved appliances are not environmentally friendly either. Timothy Start said that other cities have the Burn Right Initiative that provides up to date information on wood burning and there seems to be a desire in the city for this. Burn right is an acceptance of solid fuel burning but there is still a risk that smoke will be emitted. The best case scenario is to discourage solid fuel burning where population density is highest or adjacent to high rise flats. DEFRA approved appliances can be enforced within a Smoke Control Area.

35.7    Cllr Evans asked about the difference between DEFRA approved and DEFRA exempt, how they had been notified of residents who they sent letters to and that the borders of the current Smoke Control Areas don’t make sense and have left out the more affluent areas; there is a need to fill in those gaps and expand into Hove. Cllr Rowkins said the borders were done in the 70s and now looked arbitrary, that those residents who received a letter had been reported by other residents following the awareness campaign and that the correct term to use is DEFRA exempt.

35.8    Cllr Winder asked how long it would take to set up the expanded scheme including time for consultation. Cllr Rowkins said they have to go via DEFRA and apply for the power to declare Smoke Control Areas and the public consultation must run for at least 4 weeks; so they could be in place by next winter.

35.9    Cllr Evans summarised the steer from the committee for future actions to be taken:

          - extend the Smoke Control Areas

          - Continue the awareness campaign

          - Continue the enforcement initiatives and establish further initiatives

35.10  RESOLVED – that Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee agree the steer for further actions and agree to note the report.

Additional information provided following the committee from Samuel Rouse:

To add to the answers given to Cllrs questions at the committee; 

• Old stoves can not be retrofitted to make them exempt appliances or eco-stove standard. The current market includes exempt appliances and approved fuels. Low smoke fuels are authorised for specific stoves. 

• For a bus worth £300K, 2015 to 2024, it was worth investing in upgraded exhaust after treatment that includes selective catalytic reduction, add-blue urea, with advanced diesel particulate filters. Most vehicles on the road are now ultra-low, or zero.  The cleanest stoves are “low emission” and this is the most polluting category in 2025. 

• Stoves rely on combustion chamber efficiency, air control valves and soot sweeps, there is no exhaust pipe after treatment such as catalysts or filtration. Installed stoves last decades, and easily two or three times longer than almost all buses & cars, so a new one installed now has likely legacy for future generations around 2050. Domestic burning amongst high population density is unlikely to be socially acceptable after 2030.  

• In addition to air pollution monitoring installed 2024 and 2025 (to date) air pollution sensors will be used to monitor Moving Traffic Enforcement such as the Western Road, Red Route and some school streets. The council does not provide an on-demand monitoring service. 

• Citizen science can help with engagement and awareness raising. BHCC can not instruct or assist the public with their DIY monitoring. One-off sensors should not be compared with other settings and cities for example Brighton roadside with a Paris Park. An amateur tendency is to compare short term peaks with annual air quality objectives which is not like for like. Whilst pollution has acute health burdens and triggers hospital admissions, annual air quality target levels (concentrations in air) relate to long term human dose and exposure to pollution. 

• Authority monitors and contracts have regard to quality assurance and quality control of scientific data, that includes validation and verification. This is possible with co-located monitors, more than one monitoring method and a network of sensors instead of one stand-alone monitor.  

• Ideally there would be funding for independent audits of monitoring data. Our priority is to sustain data stream from connected council monitoring assets. Monitoring  verifies a computer based dispersion model that is a detailed air quality assessment with pollution concentrations mapped everywhere in the city.