About Us: History

The Sussex Air Quality Steering group was formed in 1995 as a response both to Central Government, who had produced a document "Air Quality: Meeting the Challenge", and to more local work looking at air quality in Sussex.

The group is made up of representatives from City, Borough and District Councils in East and West Sussex, East and West Sussex County Councils, the Sussex Primary Care Trusts, the Environment Agency, the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton.

The group is made up principally of Environmental Health Officers and other officer level staff, with Chief Officer representation. The Group has always sought economies of scale and consistency of approach (through joint working and purchasing) and has sought to make the linkages between air quality and other policy areas (such as land use planning). The Group has also tried to provide relevant timely information on air quality to decision-makers.

One of the first tasks the Group completed was to carry out an inventory of all major pollution sources across Sussex. This emissions inventory was subsequently linked to mapping tools and continues to provide valuable information about local sources of air pollutants. The Group appointed a full-time Project Development Officer to support its technical work, to assist in the air quality management process and to raise the profile of the Group.