Contaminated land

On 1st April 2000, the Government introduced new legislation intended to deal with the legacy of contaminated land. This new legislation falls under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and the responsibility for enforcing its provisions rests with Local Authorities and the Environment Agency. Under this legislation local authorities are under a duty to inspect their district for contaminated land and legally require clean up of that land from the appropriate person. For the majority of cases this will be land that is having a detrimental effect to the health of local residents, the quality of controlled waters or the wider environment.

Despite being principally a rural area, there is still a need and a legal requirement for us to implement the Contaminated Land Legislation. There are a large variety of both present and past uses, which have had the potential to cause land contamination ranging from farming to large military airfields. In addition spillage and pollution incidents may have produced potential contamination.

What we do about contaminated land

In enforcing the contaminated land legislation, the council:

• publishes a Contaminated Land Strategy (see downloads below) that states how we identify contaminated sites in our area
• carries out more detailed assessments of those sites that are most likely to be contaminated
• finds out who is responsible for putting the contamination right (remediation) and discusses the problem with them
• formally declares land as contaminated
• agrees the necessary action to remediate the land and makes sure it is done
• serves a Remediation Notice where necessary
• keeps a public register of Contaminated Land Sites that have been formally declared as contaminated and details the actions that are required to remediate each site to make it suitable for its current use.

In some cases the Environment Agency may take over the regulation of a site from us, once it has been declared as 'contaminated land'.

To date no sites have been formally declared contaminated as defined by Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Assessing whether contamination really exists

One of the key elements of assessing whether a site is contaminated is establishing whether a pollutant linkage exists. This consists of:

• Source – a contaminant which exists in, on or under the site.
• Pathway – a means by which the contaminant can reach a…
• Receptor – someone or something, which could be affected by the contaminant (e.g. a human being, water resource, building).

If a viable pollutant linkage exists (source-pathway-receptor is present) then an assessment of potential risk to the receptor(s) needs to be carried out.

Action required and who pays?

If you own or occupy contaminated land now or you did in the past, you may be responsible for cleaning up the contamination. You may still be responsible for remediating the contamination after you have sold the land.

Some contamination can be a hazard to current occupants or neighbours and the law says the problem must be rectified.

The law follows the 'polluter pays' principle - the person or organisation that caused or permitted the contamination must pay to have it put right. If that person or organisation is not known, then the current owner of the land may become responsible.

Contamination and Planning

Land contamination is a material planning consideration. This means that any potentially contaminated land passing through this process should be dealt with ensuring that there are no further risks to the future occupiers or wider environment from this land. It is the developer’s responsibility to ensure a safe development as laid out in Planning Policy Statement 23 and Annex 2 The onus is on the developer to disclose information on contamination. Where there is the potential for contamination to be present or the proposed use would be particularly vulnerable to contamination, (such as housing, schools etc), the council will require as a minimum a desk study and walkover to be submitted at the time of the initial application. Apart from the exceptions mentioned below the desk study should comply with best practice including identification of potential pollutant linkages (source-pathway-receptor).

Breckland Council is mindful of the potential cost implications of producing a desk study and for certain situations (such as agricultural use) has produced questionnaires in order to assist in identifying whether a more formal desk study is necessary. At present there are two questionnaires, one in relation to past agricultural use and one in relation to particularly vulnerable end uses.

Planning Advice Leaflet

Planning Advice Leaflet for Developers (Non Technical)

Due to the above changes to the planning system our Planning Advice Leaflet is being updated – please bear with us.

Contamination and Building Regulations

If the development requires a Building Regulations permission, practical guidance with regards to these regulations and contamination is laid out in Approved Document C.

Ground Gas Protection Measures

If your development requires gas protection measures you may wish to refer to our leaflet “Ground Gas Protection Measures – frequently asked questions”.

Re-use of ‘brownfield’ sites

A brownfield site can be any site which has had a past use but industrial use is the most relevant to contamination issues. The approval of an application for redevelopment of these sites will only be granted on condition that the contamination is cleaned up to a standard that makes it fit for the new use of the land.

Buying or selling land

You should obtain specialist advice before buying or selling contaminated land. When you buy land in Breckland, the Land Charges department will be able to tell you if a site has been declared ‘contaminated land’ under the strict legal definition. In addition it is advisable to search other relevant sources of information to find out the history of the site and look for potential sources of contamination (see downloads "House Sales and Contamintaed Land").

You can contact Breckland's Contaminated Land Officer on 01362 656870 or email envprotect@breckland.gov.uk

You can find further useful information and downloads  from the Planning Help Website, and on the Planning Portal Website

Other downloads

You will need the Adobe Reader software to view these documents, it is available by clicking this link that will open in a new browser window - you can close that window after the download and our website will still be available for you to browse.

Links to:

2nd edition contaminated land strategy (pdf doc, 609Kb)

House Sales and Contaminated Land (pdf doc, 62kb) (please note, this document's layout is set up for printing as a booklet)