The contamination of land in the UK has largely arisen as a result of past industrial uses and activities. Past legal controls and standards within industry were not as high as they are today and in a lot of cases, this has resulted in the ground being polluted by the wastes and materials from these activities. These contaminated sites may present a threat to the environment and pose a risk to human health.
In a response to this, the government introduced legislation in 2000 that required all local authorities to inspect their area from to identify contaminated land which may pose a risk to human health or the environment and to publish a written strategy laying out how they intend do this. Known as Part 2a of The Environmental Protection Act 1990 (Part 2A), this legislation also introduced a legal definition of ‘contaminated land’ and local authorities must follow specific legal rules to ensure that those who are responsible for the contamination take steps to it clean up.
Many contaminated sites are also cleaned up during the planning process, as the government has encouraged building on 'brownfield sites', which is land that has previously been developed and often has an industrial past. Government Planning Policy Statement 23 (PPS23) puts the responsibility on the developer to ensure that a development is safe and suitable for use for the purpose for which it is intended.
In addition to cleaning up the historical legacy of contamination, local authorities along with the Environment Agency also advise on pollution incidents as leaking domestic fuel tanks. These can cause serious land contamination and if they are not dealt with effectively and promptly, can cause serious harm to human health, property or the environment.
For further information on Part 2A of The Environmental Protection Act 1990, Redevelopment and Land Contamination and Dealing with Pollution Incidents, please see the links below. The Suffolk Environmental Protection Group (SEPG) has also produced some useful Advice Notes on Contaminated Land.
In addition to our statutory duties, Environmental Health and Housing Services provides advice and responds to enquiries from the public as well as advising developers and the council's planning service with respect to applications for the development on/or close to potentially contaminated land.
If you have any further queries relating to contaminated land in the borough, then please call the Environmental Management Team on 01284 757042.
