Contaminated Land

Photo of contaminated land

Introduction

On the 1st April 2000 Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 came into force. This laid out the new statutory regime for the identification and remediation of contaminated land in the UK.

Local Authorities are the responsible Authority for the majority of this process and therefore produce a contaminated land inspection strategy detailing how they process this requirement.

What is Contaminated Land?

Land which appears to the local authority to be in such a condition, due to substances in or under the land causing significant harm or that there is a significant possibility of harm being caused, or that controlled waters are being polluted or are likely to be polluted.

CONTAMINATED LAND INSPECTION STRATEGY

North Norfolk's Strategy
North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) adopted and published its strategy in June 2001 within the government timescale. The document lays out the way in which the Council intends to undertake its duty to inspect its area for potentially contaminated land. The original strategy was been reviewed in November 2003, to include procedural changes.

The strategy can be viewed by clicking on the links below:

1. Introduction (PDF, 632KB)

2. Overall Aims and Objectives (PDF, 43.5KB)

3. Characteristics of the North Norfolk District (PDF, 97.1KB)

   • Figure 2 - Map of Norfolk with District Councils (PDF, 327KB)
   • Figure 3 - Map of North Norfolk with Parishes (PDF, 361KB)
   • Figure 4 - Landscape Character Area Map (PDF, 223KB)
   • Figure 5 - Solid Geology Map of Norfolk (PDF, 475KB)
     
     

4. Priority Actions and Timescales (PDF, 25.6KB)

5. Procedures (PDF, 55KB)

6. Liaison and Communication (PDF, 58.3KB)

7. Programme for Inspection (PDF, 47.7KB)

8. Review Mechanisms (PDF, 31.7KB)

9. Information Management (PDF, 36.9KB)

10. Glossary of Terms (PDF, 49.9KB)

11. Appendix 1 (PDF, 22.1KB)

12. Appendix 2 (PDF, 33.6KB)

13. Appendix 3 (PDF, 33.4KB)

14. Appendix 4 (PDF, 74.2KB)

15. Appendix 5 (PDF, 24.4KB)

16. Appendix 6 (PDF, 99.6KB)

Progress to Date

NNDC have compiled a list of potentially contaminated sites across the district, this has been collated from historical maps, land use data and local knowledge.

All of the sites identified as part of this process have undergone a basic risk assessment enabling the sites to be prioritised based on its potential risk. A list of high risk sites has been identified and these are currently undergoing a detailed risk assessment to ascertain if any further works are required, or if they are suitable for their current use.

Contaminated Land and Planning

The planning regime is expected to deal with the majority of the contaminated land as part of redevelopment. Planning Policy Statement 23 states that the broad approach, concepts and principles of the Part IIA regime with respect to identifying risks from land contamination and dealing with them should be applied to plan-making and the determination of planning applications.

The document gives guidance Regional Planning Bodies (RPBs), Local Planning Authorities (LPAs), developers and other interested parties on the issues relevant to development and use of land that may be affected by contamination and the extent of controls operated through planning and environmental legislation.

The developer is responsible for ensuring that development is safe and suitable for use for the purpose for which it is intended. The developer is thus responsible for determining whether land is suitable for a particular development or can be made so by remedial action.

For further details contact:

E-mail:ep@north-norfolk.gov.uk
Tel: 01263 516301/516189/516085
Fax: 01263 514627