Watford Borough Council

Some land in this country has been contaminated in the past by industries such as gasworks, tanneries, chemical works and landfills.  These are often called brownfield sites. Brownfield sites can be a problem for two reasons:

• there may be harmful substances in, on or under the land
• water pollution might be caused by substances at the site

However, brownfield sites do not generally cause a problem unless they are redeveloped for a different use.

Land is only declared contaminated if:

• it contains a source of pollution
• the source and someone (or something) could be affected by the pollutant
• the receptor and the pollution can get to the 'receptor' 

These three elements together are known as the pollutant linkage.

If you own or occupy contaminated land now, or you did in the past, you may be responsible for cleaning up the pollution. You may still be responsible for cleaning up the pollution after you have sold the land.

Some contamination can be a hazard to current occupants or neighbours and the law says the problem must be put right immediately.

The law follows the 'polluter pays' principle - the person or organisation that caused or permitted the contamination must pay to have it put right. If that person or organisation is not known, then the current owner of the land may become responsible.

Owners and occupiers of domestic properties are not usually liable for these costs.

Re-use of brownfield sites

The approval of an application for redevelopment of these sites will only be granted on condition that the contamination is cleaned up to a standard that makes it suitable for the new use of the land.

You should obtain specialist advice from an environmental consultant or a specialist lawyer before you buy or sell contaminated land.

What the Council does about contaminated land

Watford Borough Council is responsible for enforcing the contaminated land legislation. The Council:

• publishes a Contaminated Land Strategy, which says how it will find contaminated sites in its area
• carries out inspections of land that may be contaminated
• finds out who is responsible for putting right the contamination and discusses the problem with them
• formally declares land contaminated
• agrees the necessary action and makes sure it is done
• keeps a public register of contaminated land sites, the action that was required to put the problem right and any legal action that has been taken.

In some cases the Environment Agency may take over the regulation of a site from the council once it has been declared as 'contaminated land'.

Contaminated land strategy

Under the Environment Act 1995, every local authority has a duty to devise a strategy for identifying and dealing with contaminated land within its area. This Council’s strategy was published in July 2003 and is available from Environmental Services. The Council is currently carrying out a desktop study of sites where a potential source of contamination has been identified.

Planning applications

The Planning Service consults Environmental Services over planning applications to develop sites where a potential source of contamination has been identified. This involves working with the applicant to ensure that future users of the site are not exposed to any risks.

Environmental information requests

There is currently no charge for this service as we consider these requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information 2004. We do however charge 10p per sheet of A4 photocopying.