Pollution Control - Contaminated Land
Bath and North East Somerset Council have two areas of
responsibility for land pollution, these are:
- To investigate potentially contaminated land and
- To ensure that developers investigate any potentially
contaminated land that may be subject of a planning application or
a planning permission.
Investigation of Potentially Contaminated Land.
Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act came into force on
1st April 2000, introducing a new regime for the regulation of
contaminated land in England. The purpose of the regime is to
provide an improved system for the identification of land that is
posing unacceptable risks to human health or the environment, and
for securing remediation where such risks cannot be controlled by
other means.
The regime places a duty on local authorities to inspect land in
its District for contamination and bring about its remediation. As
a result Bath and North East Somerset has produced a strategy
which:
- Includes the proposed methodology for inspection of the
district, identification of contaminated land and how information
gathered will be handled
- Outlines relevant legislation
- Provides brief details on the general characteristics of Bath
and North East Somerset
For further details please consult the full version of the
Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy.
Like many local authorities, Bath and North East Somerset has an
inherited legacy of contaminated land. Much land has been present
for long periods of time, largely from the 18th Century onwards as
a result if industrial, mining and waste disposal activities. You
can help by providing us with information that may help us to
identify and clean up land that may be affected by
contamination.
Land Contamination and New Developments - the Planning and
Development Process
The Government has set a target for 60% of all new housing to be
built on brownfield sites. As a result of these issues we expect to
see land contamination being a factor in many new developments.
Planning applicants, their agents, developers and consultants are
therefore required by planning policy guidance (PPS23) to give
routine early consideration to land contamination development
proposals. It is the developers responsibility to ensure that their
development is safe for its intended use. Failure to do so can
result in harm to human health and the environment, land blight,
failure to sell properties and legal action.
The Council expects potential land contamination issues to be
professionally and thoroughly approached and all work should
reflect modern good practice. A guide has been produced by the
Council that clarifies the current requirements. It is important
that planning applicants follow this advice to ensure the efficient
processing of their application or enable them to comply with any
attached contaminated land planning condition.
Please note that this advice is subject to revision from time to
time in line with advancing government requirements, legislative
changes and best practice guidance.
Contaminated Land Guidance Note for Developers 2007 can be
downloaded from the right and has a link on the left.
