Development Control Policy

Guidance Note No. 7

Guidance Note on Contaminated Land

This is a note issued by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council to provide guidance and advice on contaminated land within the Planning process.

Through imposing conditions attached to a Planning Permission, applicants have obligations to meet on:

1. Investigation and Survey of the site for contamination
2. Statement of how you intend to remedy the contamination, if considered necessary
3. Implementation of Remediation.

Because of the complex and technical nature of this issue, we strongly recommend that you appoint suitably qualified consultants to ensure you meet these obligations correctly and professionally.

You will need to comply with your obligations before any development starts.

What is contaminated land?

It is land that has the potential to cause Harm to Humans, Property and the Environment (including lakes, ponds and watercourses), because of the presence of particular substances in, on, over and under the ground or water.

These substances may include metals and their compounds (e.g. rust), organic compounds (e.g. petrol, solvents), and gases (e.g. methane, carbon dioxide).

Substances may be present at a site because of:-

1. Previous industries and processes at or near to the site.
2. Landfilling in, on or near to the site.
3. Contaminated materials being imported on to the site.
4. Open storage-temporarily or long-term
5. Natural contamination (e.g. high metal levels, radon gas)

Planning condition(s)

The Council will attach condition(s) to your Approval because we suspect the site may have a contamination problem, based on historical knowledge.

If you comply with the condition relating to the initial investigation and survey and if you prove to the Council's satisfaction there is no contamination problem, then no further action is necessary. Your obligation is complied with and you can proceed with the approved development.

Because of the serious nature of contaminated land issues it is an offence not to comply with a contaminated land condition and legal action may be taken by the Council in cases of non-compliance.

Actions that may be taken to enforce a contaminated land obligation include the power to stop the development, demand the requested information is provided, and in extreme circumstances to criminally prosecute.

There are 3 practical means of compliance:-

1. Desk based study - identifies the potential for, and likelihood of contamination.
2. Physical site investigations - proves and characterises the contamination and assesses whether it will potentially result in harm.
3. Remediation - action to either REMOVE contamination substances from the site, TREAT them on site so they are no longer a problem, or CONTAIN them on the site so they are no longer a problem.

1. Desk Based Study

The aim of a desk based study is to provide sufficient information to identify any risks that may exist from the site/adjacent sites in relation to the intended use of the site and in relation to harm which may be caused to other receptors either on or adjacent to the site. The conclusions and recommendations provided by the desk based study should be sufficient, to design a tailored site investigation for the site in order to prove its contamination status. The desk-based study should at a minimum include the following information:-

1. A site description identifying the site location, current use, a description of site features, a description of adjacent sites and their respective uses. The site description should be based on a site visit to identify visual evidence of contamination (representative samples may be taken) and any evidence of past activities which may result or have resulted in contamination at the site.
2. Reasonable historical researches to identify past land uses at or adjacent to the site (copies of relevant historical maps to be included in the report).
3. Searches of Environment Agency, Local Authority, English Nature information etc., about the site and adjacent sites.
4. Characterisation of the site's geology, hydrogeology and hydrology.
5. An appropriate risk assessment based on the identification and establishment of potential Source-Pathway-Target relationships at the site.
6. Conclusions and recommendations. Where further physical site investigations are recommended, information collected as part of the desk based study will be used as a basis to design an appropriate investigation for the site.

This information should be submitted to the Council's Planning and Building Control Service in a legible clear and professional form. We will then make our response in writing. No development of further works with respect to the contamination issue should be carried out until receipt of that letter.

There may be a time lapse between submission and the decision letter but this will be to allow reasonable opportunity for the Council staff to assess the findings and recommendations. Nevertheless the Council will always strive to deal with such matters as speedily as possible. The decision letter will either acknowledge compliance with the planning condition obligation and agree with a recommendation of "no contamination" or "no potentially harmful contamination", thereby allowing development to commence. Alternatively we will request further information or investigation to be carried out or specify the investigation proceeds to physical surveys and remediation.

If the submitted document covers the initial desk based study, results of physical investigations and a remediation plan, then no implementation of either remediation or development should occur until the decision letter is received saying so.

2. Physical site investigation

The aim of a physical site investigation is to identify the presence, severity and extent of potential contaminants at the site, so allowing the fitness of the land in its current state for the proposed development to be assessed. Where contamination is identified, the results of such an investigation will allow any necessary remedial measures to be identified and provisionally costed. The physical site investigation should at a minimum include these components:

1. A desk based study.
2. A site investigation philosophy including the hypotheses of expected contamination at the site (supported by information identified during the desk-based study).
3. Sufficient and appropriate physical investigations, sampling and monitoring in line with appropriate guidance to identify contamination at the site and undertake a risk assessment. As an example, the siting of exploratory positions must be placed intelligently to prove the hypothesis and the number of samples analysed from each exploratory position should be sufficient to characterise soils properly (usually 3 samples is sufficient).
4. An appropriate risk assessment highlighting the significance of any contamination in relation to any identified Source-Pathway-Target linkages. This should include the potential for the site to contaminate adjacent sites, and vice versa.
5. Conclusions and recommendations, where necessary identifying remedial measures that would be need to make the site suitable for its intended use.

Both the desk based study and physical site investigation may be presented in a single report.

3. Remediation

Where contamination poses a threat to the proposed development, adjacent land or the environment, remedial measures will be necessary to remove, stabilise, contain or treat the affected land. Under the contaminated land regime, remediation comprises an assessment action, a remedial treatment action and a monitoring action. The information we need in relation to remediation being undertaken at a site includes:

1. A desk based study, a physical site investigation report and any extra physical site investigations necessary to characterise the site sufficiently for the remediation scheme (the assessment action).
2. A remediation plan details, what remediation is proposed, how it will deal with each of the identified pollution linkages, any ongoing monitoring that will be necessary after the remedial treatment action is completed and a health and safety plan (including public and construction site workers).
3. Validation monitoring undertaken during the course of remediation at the site.
4. A closing out report detailing how the remediation has achieved each of the aims outlined within the remediation plan. This should include the results of validation testing undertaken during remediation, any further observations of contamination identified during remediation and further remediation that we undertaken/is proposed to deal with any extra contamination (the second, third and fourth points represent the remedial treatment action. The closing out report should also identify what monitoring actions will be ongoing in relation to the remedial treatment action undertaken.
5. The results of any ongoing monitoring that is specified by the remediation plan and closing out report.

Contacts

If you want to discuss this further then please contact the Planning Officer who dealt with your planning application.

For technical advice please contact the Contaminated Land Section.

Contact Information
Send us a Message	Planning and Building Control Tameside MBC Council Offices Wellington Road Ashton under Lyne Lancs OL6 6DL View local map
0161 342 8355
0161 342 3111