Hythe Tops UK Wood Burner Pollution Charts: Green Party Accused of Environmental Hypocrisy
A recent investigation by the ShepwayVox team has revealed that Hythe—one of the Green Party’s strongholds in Folkestone & Hythe District—has the highest residential density of wood-burning stoves in the entire district. Using University College London data, the analysis showed 131.3 appliances per km² and that 22.5% of homes in the town are estimated to use a wood-burning stove or fireplace.
This places Hythe at the top of the district’s pollution table for residential solid fuel use, raising serious questions about the coherence of Green Party environmental policy in the area. While the party has long campaigned on climate change, net zero, and clean energy, the prevalence of wood-burning—a major source of PM2.5 particulate pollution—suggests a significant blind spot when it comes to protecting public health from harmful domestic emissions.
Council Response: PM2.5 “Difficult to Measure”
In a recent question submitted by Cllr Tony Hills, concerns were raised about air quality across the district and how Folkestone & Hythe compares to other areas. The written response from Cllr Stephen Scoffham, Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment and Biodiversity (Green Party), sought to reassure the public:
“The council conducts air quality monitoring at nineteen locations across the district… Each site is monitoring for nitrogen dioxide [NO₂]… Results at the original eighteen testing locations have improved and the district continues to have no requirement to set up an Air Quality Management Area.”
However, Cllr Scoffham’s – pictured – response also made clear that PM2.5 and PM10—fine particulate matter responsible for some of the most damaging health effects—are not directly monitored. Instead, the council assumes that if NO₂ levels are falling, PM2.5 must also be under control.
He continued:
“PM2.5 is caused by numerous combustion processes… Isolating individual contributors, for example, a relatively small number of properties with wood burners, is extremely difficult… Proper scientific testing units are costly, static, difficult to deploy… The council responds on the basis that PM2.5 is present, it is a risk, and… needs to be reduced.”
But critics argue this logic is dangerously circular. By choosing not to monitor PM2.5 directly, the council avoids ever having to declare a problem. Meanwhile, pollution from wood burners and traffic continues largely unchecked—especially in areas like Hythe, where stove ownership is widespread.
Science Sharpens the Case: Dementia and Dirty Air
The policy gap is particularly troubling given the mounting body of scientific evidence connecting air pollution with serious long-term health conditions.
A major meta-analysis published in The Lancet in April 2024 and reported in Air Quality News has found a statistically significant link between exposure to fine particulate matter and dementia. Reviewing 21 studies involving more than 24 million people, researchers found an 8% increased risk of dementia for every 5 µg/m³ rise in PM2.5 exposure. The findings were so compelling that the UK Government’s Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) issued a new statement acknowledging PM2.5 as a credible risk factor for cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.
This is on top of the already established connections between PM2.5 exposure and heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, asthma, and premature death. Even so-called “eco-stoves” are no safe alternative: studies show a modern DEFRA-approved wood stove can emit the same amount of PM2.5 as 18 diesel cars per hour.
Green Rhetoric vs Green Reality
The apparent inconsistency between Green Party campaigning and Green-led cabinet decisions is stark.
On the one hand, Green councillors have repeatedly warned of catastrophic environmental risks should soil layers at the former Princes Parade site be disturbed—citing the possible release of pollutants into the air. Yet, in their own backyard in Hythe, the daily use of domestic wood burners—actively emitting dangerous particulates into the atmosphere—is not being tackled with the same urgency.
Nor is the issue confined to stoves. Despite the acknowledged health risks of PM10 and PM2.5 from traffic emissions, the council has no dedicated monitoring stations for particulates along major roadways. The emphasis on nitrogen dioxide as a proxy for overall air quality falls short of what is now widely accepted best practice.
Public Health at Risk—And Still No Action
The Green Party has staked its reputation on being the party of science, evidence, and precaution. Yet when that same science makes clear that wood smoke and particulate pollution are harming the very residents they serve, the policy response is non-existent.
If particulate pollution increases dementia risk, exacerbates asthma, and shortens lives, then the burden of proof shifts onto those in power to act. Instead, the cabinet member for the environment appears content to cite cost, complexity, and convenience as barriers to taking meaningful measurements—never mind meaningful action.
A Moral and Political Failure
Residents in Hythe, Dymchurch, and across the district deserve policies based on consistent science and a genuine commitment to health and sustainability. Selective environmentalism—where traffic and climate change matter, but domestic air pollution is quietly ignored—risks undermining public trust in both the Green Party and the council as a whole.
If the Green-led administration cannot take airborne health risks seriously in its own most loyal wards, how can it claim to lead on climate and clean air?
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The Shepway Vox Team
The Velvet Voices of Voxatiousness
I am not an expert , but I do have a wood burner, using my own garden wood . I understand there is a correlation between wood water content and air borne particulate, drier the wood the lesser the damaging particulate. Equally the efficiency of the stove is a factor. Wood burning in itself is not damaging. you need to get a balanced perspective
The science is the science and it is balanced, as is the article.
Also see – https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/news/log-burners-environment
“The United Kingdom currently has the highest domestic electricity prices in the IEA (International Energy Agency), according to the Office for National Statistics.”
As we fall into the category quoted below we can confirm that as you get older you feel the cold more. “older adults often feel the cold more intensely than younger people. This is due to a combination of factors related to aging, including a slower metabolism, a thinner layer of fat under the skin, and changes in blood circulation”
From a brief search “residents over the age of 65 currently account for an estimated 24.8% of Folkestone and Hythe’s population. I would suggest that if you take Hythe individually this proportion would be significantly higher.
We had a wood burner installed some years ago, primarily to reduce the cost of our energy bills. Which it has, very successfully, on cold winter evenings.
Most would not deny a determined and logical path to a lower carbon future. But, if you really want to reduce the obvious health implications you mention in your article you might want to address current energy costs in this Country levied by the current crop of lunatics in charge and their predecessors.
As it is, we will continue to keep our feet warm with our log burner, whilst bemoaning the loss of our Winter Fuel Payment and awaiting the next decision by this sorry bunch of (Labour) incompetents.
Thanks for your comment. Much to agree with. 🙂
Log burners are the most polluting form of domestic heating.
They release twice as much CO2 as gas boilers and 465 times more toxic air pollution – like PM2.5.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, they also require the chopping down of trees, which otherwise have an actively positive effect on the climate – unlike gas or oil, for instance.