What is contaminated land?

We're required by law to produce a written strategy on how we're going to carry out our contaminated land duties:

The register aims to provide a permanent record of land that is, or has been classed as a 'Special Site' and any actions taken or proposed to remediate contaminated land.

Please note that potentially contaminated land sites, sites under investigation and sites determined as contaminated land will not appear on the register unless further action is taken such as remediation.

We recognise that a lot of potentially contaminated sites will be dealt with by redevelopment through the planning process. We're responsible for assessing planning applications and recommending whether a contaminated land condition is required. We then liaise with developers and their agents to ensure that they complete the relevant work.

Information about contaminated land, how it may affect your planning application and what to do about a contaminated land planning condition can be found in our Supplementary Planning Document:

If you're applying for planning permission and would like to know if contaminated land will affect your application, then you can ask us for advice before you submit your planning application. Speaking to us early can ensure that you're aware of contaminated land requirements and ensure the application process is as smooth as possible.

We charge an hourly fee for pre-application consultations to cover officer time.

Services we offer include:

• specialist advice about planning conditions,
• meetings to help manage your application
• reviews of contaminated land documents you intend to submit in support of your application

If you'd like pre-application planning advice, please ask for a quotation by emailing us:

If you'd like to know if a contaminated land planning condition on a planning application has been satisfied or discharged, you can ask us to check our records for confirmation.

We charge a flat fee of £116.00 for each planning application you'd like us to check. We'll then review our records and tell you whether contaminated land planning conditions were satisfied.

If they were not, then we'll tell you what information is outstanding and provide further advice if you need it.

If you'd like to commission a review of our planning records, please ask by emailing us:

You can obtain information about contamination for a specific area of land by ordering an Environmental Search Report. These reports can help with planning applications, land transfers and when buying or selling property.

The reports contain information about:

• Potentially contaminative land uses
• Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act (1990)
• Documents that the Council hold on record

The fee for obtaining an environmental search report depends on the size of the area of land and how much information you need.

You can find a full list of all our Environmental Protection and Planning fees by visiting our Fees and Charges page.

If you'd like to commission an Environmental Search Report for contaminated land, please ask by emailing us: