About the Air That We Breathe Group

The Air that We Breathe Group was founded over seven years ago following concerns that respiratory health in the Westbury area was far worse than the 'norm'.

Dick and Betty Woodland of Bratton organised a health survey which produced results which tended to confirm the fears.

About this time, we became aware of the fact that the situation was about to become far worse.  Blue Circle Cement were now proposing to burn scrap tyres.  The Air That We Breathe Group was formed to fight these proposals and David Levy from Chapmanslade became our chairman.

Following several packed public meetings, a massive campaign, and several failures by the company to demonstrate to the Environment Agency that they could burn tyres without significant increases in emissions, permanent permission was granted in 2001. David Levy took the Environment Agency to the High Court but despite an excellent case the judge found in favour of the EA.  David is now about to appeal to the High Court (November 2002) and has been granted legal aid to do so.  David Wolfe, his barrister, of Bindman partners, believes David has an excellent case and their is an important legal principle here:  should the EA require these 'back door' waste incinerators to meet the highest possible environmental standards and install the latest abatement technologies, or always let them off the hook because they are 'old technology'.

The company was taken over by French multi-national Lafarge in 2002 and are now proposing burning toxic solvents in the kilns alongside tyres, despite previous promises to the people of Westbury that this would never happen.

The next campaign against toxic solvents promises to be the most vigorous yet!