The Environmental Health Department is a consultee to planning applications that may be affected by land contamination
At all times it is the responsibility of the developer to ensure that a site is suitable for its proposed new use, irrespective of whether relevant planning conditions have been applied. After completing any remediation at the development site, the land should not be capable of being determined as contaminated land under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The Council expects developers to follow the Environment Agency guidance on Land Contamination Risk Management (LCRM).
Where:
- there is reason to suspect that contamination in solid, liquid or gaseous form could impact on the proposed development, or
- the proposed end use is considered to be particularly vulnerable to the presence of contamination (e.g. residential uses, allotments, schools, nurseries, children’s play areas, playing fields).
Developers shall comply with the planning conditions attached to the planning permission granted by the Council, which can be complied with by submitting the following reports depending on the outcome of each stage of the investigation:
A Phase 1 Desk Study (also known as a Preliminary investigation – desk study and site reconnaissance under British Standard 10175 or a Preliminary risk assessment under LCRM)
A Phase 2 Investigation (also known as a Detailed investigation under British Standard 10175), which will include a generic quantitative risk assessment (GQRA)
Supplementary investigation(s) if required
A detailed quantitative risk assessment (DQRA) if required
An Options Appraisal for the proposed remediation
Generic Assessment Criteria
All reports submitted in connection with a planning application must follow the Environment Agency guidance on Land Contamination Risk Management (LCRM). For any generic quantitative risk assessment, up to date and scientifically defensible generic assessment criteria for soil, controlled waters, groundwater vapour etc., and current approaches to ground gas and soil vapour risk assessment, shall be used. Examples of acceptable evaluation criteria can be found on the LCRM Stage 1 risk assessment page.
Reports that are more than 12 months old may be requested to be updated to take account of current guidance, and any changes to the development site that may alter the previously developed conceptual site model (CSM).
Where can I find a consultant to undertake this work?
Developers should always retain a suitably qualified and competent geo-environmental consultant to undertake the required investigations and interpretation of results.
Developers should make their consultant aware of the specific wording of any planning condition.
The Council supports the National Quality Mark Scheme for Land Contamination Management (NQMS) and encourages reports to be submitted that have been through the NQMS scheme and that hold the Quality Mark.
The NQMS is a scheme that has been developed by the National Brownfield Forum (formerly known as Land Forum) to provide visible identification of documents that have been checked for quality by a Suitably Qualified and experienced Person (SQP). It provides increased confidence and improved quality of submissions made under regulatory regimes, particularly planning applications, related to previously used land.
If you have questions about the work a consultant is proposing to undertake, please contact the Environmental Health to discuss this.
