A PROMISED helpline for Tilbury residents affected by dust from port industries is expected to be in place by the summer following a delay, Thurrock Council has confirmed.

The commitment was restated at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday (18 March) after it emerged the service had still not been launched, despite it being announced in October last year.

The hotline is intended to give residents a direct route to report dust issues linked to industrial activity around the Port of Tilbury.

Thurrock Nub News has been reporting on residents' concerns about dust and air quality in Tilbury for several years, going back to this report in 2021 when the council played down the issue, despite substantial evidence of the impact on local people's lives.

Thurrock Nub News has been highlighting the problems in Tilbury for years.

Cllr Mark Hooper, cabinet member for health, wellbeing and social housing, said the delay was partly due to timing and ongoing work with port partners.

"The funds are made available for the helpline. They come from public health," he told colleagues.

"The ideal time to actually have the helpline is coming up very shortly over the spring and summer period, where the dust settles. While it's wet, the dust tends to stay on the ground."

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Cllr Hooper said the council had recently met with Port of Tilbury representatives to discuss residents' concerns and was working with the Environment Agency to ensure companies complied with pollution controls.

"We want the port and the industries at the port to be good neighbours," he said.

"We benefit from the port, and the people who live in Tilbury working in the port. We're just asking them to be good neighbours."

He added that a further update is expected at next week's place overview and scrutiny committee meeting, where councillors hope to receive clearer information on the helpline's launch and ongoing partnership work.

The Tilbury Community Forum has actively championed the issue and its chairman, Craig Austin, called on residents to help build up an impeachable body of evidence to show how serious the problem is.

The update came as cabinet approved a new Essex wide air quality strategy developed jointly with Essex County Council and Southend.

Cllr John Kent, portfolio holder for sustainability, arts, culture and heritage, said the All Essex Air Quality Strategy would strengthen the borough's ability to tackle pollution and meet statutory responsibilities.

"We agreed back in November 2024 to be part of an Essex-wide strategy," he said.

"It enshrines cross boundary collaboration in managing air pollution, makes it more likely we'll be successful in securing external funding and simplifies delivery of our statutory obligations."

Cllr Kent noted that around half of the air pollution affecting Thurrock originates outside the borough, making joint working essential.

While the new strategy includes a county-wide Air Quality Action Plan, councillors confirmed the Tilbury dust helpline is a separate piece of work.

Tilbury Community Forum chair Craig Austin talks about the problems of dust in Tilbury:-