Agenda item

The report will follow in a supplementary pack for the meeting after the report has been published for the meeting of Executive Committee (due for publication on Monday 7^th October).

The Specialist Lead Officer (Contaminated Land) from Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) presented the Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy. It was explained that six Districts across Worcestershire would be looked at as part of the review, although not in any particular order. It was noted, however, that the Redditch Borough review was the first area to undertake such a review due to the number of contaminated land sites within the Borough. 

During the presentation of the report the following was highlighted:

• Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 placed a duty on local authorities to review and assess risks through the contaminated land regime. On occasions, local authorities could cause their area to be inspected in order to ensure that this regime was being adhered to. The term ‘Contaminated Land’ covered a range of sites including petrol stations, factories, depots and launderettes. The presence of a harmful substance did not mean that land would meet the definition of “contaminated land”. However, it was reported that a very high bar must be met in order to deem it as not contaminated.
• Statutory guidance stated that action under contaminated land legislation should only be used when there was no other appropriate alternative. These included the planning and development control processes, as well as voluntary action taken by landowners to minimise the unnecessary burdens placed on taxpayers, businesses, and individuals.
• The new strategy had been amended in order to reflect the gradual reduction and withdrawal of central Government funding for Local Authority contaminated land work. It also outlined the inspection process, and the methodology applied.
• The strategy did not change the statutory responsibilities, and local authorities still had to adhere to the current statutory guidance.
• There were nine thousand three hundred contaminated land sites across Worcestershire and seven hundred and fifty of these were located in Redditch. This would necessitate a large number of inspections and investigations being carried out.

Following the presentation, Members raised questions in respect of some areas of the report, as follows:

• Assurances were sought that the Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy was sufficient to prevent examples of contamination events such as the high-profile case which occurred following a flooding in Surrey in 2014 where water infiltration through a landfill site resulted in (contamination) hydrogen cyanide entering a property, resulting in a case of death and long-term disability. Officers explained that the strategy covered the local authority’s legal duties in relation to contaminants but that the Strategy could not mitigate against all possible risk. Nevertheless, the Strategy provided a framework on how contamination risks would be addressed.
• It was reported that ongoing risk monitoring was being undertaken at the contaminated land sites in Redditch, Former British Aluminium Tubes, Studley Road, and Properties at Marlpool Drive. Present The former BA Tubes site was remediated in 2017 and Marlpool Drive site had been remediated but subject to active remediation solution and monitoring.
• Who was the responsible party when it came to remediation of contaminated land sites? - It was explained that this would be on a site-specific basis. In some cases, it might be the Council, however, the owner or a purchaser of a site might also be responsible.
• Has Redditch Council been impacted by the withdrawal in central Government funding for contaminated land work? –It was commented that the funding cut had not impacted on Redditch as to date and through the new Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy all the contaminated sites and potential risk sites in Redditch continued to be monitored.
• Was the process of assessing contaminated land sites subject to quality assurance? – It was reported that there was detailed guidance and best practice guidelines in respect of this. Often these reports would be peer reviewed in order to ensure that the correct process had been undertaken. It was explained that there was a significant amount of expertise within WRS in this matter and that this level of expertise would be utilised when undertaking these kinds of inspections. This was particularly important as contaminated land site reports were usually lengthy and detailed.
• A Member highlighted that Blaze Lane in Astwood Bank ward was a former rubbish tip site with contaminants in the soil. It was raised that recently there were planning applications and housing built on the site and that it might necessitate adding the site to the list of contaminated sites. Officers responded that the site might already be included on the list but undertook to check this and report back to Members.

Members took the opportunity to thank Officers for producing a comprehensive Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy that identified a great range of potential risks.

RECOMMENDED that

The Council adopt the revised Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy which should be published on the Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) website.