THURROCK'S director of public health has been quizzed on the borough's poor air quality after the topic failed to feature as a priority in a new health strategy.

At a meeting of Thurrock council's Health and Well-being overview and scrutiny committee, Jo Broadbent gave an update on the borough's 2022-2026 health and well-being strategy, outlining a range of health and lifestyle issues the council will focus on following a recent public consultation.

The strategy covers everything from housing and employment, obesity, smoking and mental health issues but makes little mention of what is being done to improve the borough's appalling air quality.

Thurrock has one of the highest rates of death from lung cancer in the UK.

In December 2019 the British Heart Foundation said Government data ranked Thurrock one of the worst polluted areas in the country.

The borough was named the seventh worst town in the country for pollution, with residents breathing in the air that is the equivalent of smoking 138 cigarettes a year.

Speaking to the committee, Cllr Jane Pothecary, Labour councillor for Grays Riverside said: "For me there are such pressing issues around air quality in the borough and the link to peoples health, and I know it is kind of in there but only to regeneration and future development.

"There doesn't seem to be a link saying well actually we need to be taking that approach to improve air quality across Thurrock, not just where there might be regeneration going on or redevelopment. I'm wondering how do we pull that in and make sure that is put front and centre?"

Ms Broadbent replied: "You are right it's not referenced in detail. We are doing some work in the background to underpin developing a new air quality strategy.

"We haven't had an air quality monitoring officer for quite some time but I believe someone has now been recruited so there is a lot of work to do to develop and refresh our air quality strategy.

"To some extent we didn't really want to pre-empt what was going on in a strategy that hadn't been developed yet so the fact that it is not massively emphasised in this document doesn't mean it is not a priority for us and the council."

The omission of air quality flies in the face of recent promises by the ruling group. In 2020, shortly after he defected from the Independent Group to join the the Conservative benches, Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park ward councillors Allen Mayes was handed the portfolio of Health and Air Quality.

A previously strong campaigner on air quality issues, he retirerated his determination to make it a priority subject on his watch.

Cllr Mayes said: "I am proud to have been invited to join the Cabinet as portfolio holder for Health and Air Quality. These are two areas I feel passionately about and I have been campaigning for better air quality in Tilbury. I can now work on this across the borough in my new role. I look forward to working with the team to build on the good work already happening."

However, at last month's annual meeting of the council a new cabinet team was announced, which did not include Cllr Mayes. His health responsibilities have been incorporated in a new role for Cllr Deborah Huelin though no details or specifics were give about what that will encompass.

Cllr Huelin did not attend or take part in this week's committee when those key issues in her new area of responisbility were discussed.

Cllr Mayes' departure from cabinet wasn't without comment from Cllr Gledhill who thanked his for his work and said he hoped to see him back at some point, but said Cllr Mayes had stood down to become chair of the housing overview and scrutiny committee "to expand his knowledge and see how that area of delivery actually works."