NFU response to Defra Consultation on Contaminated Land
Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act (1990) underpins the contaminated land regime in England and Wales. Part 2A provides for Statutory Guidance to be issued to elaborate on aspects of the regime. The broad aims of the consultation were:
- To produce a clearer, simpler regime;
- To clarify certain aspects of the Statutory Guidance such as the legal definition of "contaminated land" and the outcomes that the regime aims to achieve;
- To make the regime more effective at safeguarding human health and the environment;
- To make the regime more effective at prioritising higher risk sites.
The consultation document and proposed new guidance can be viewed by visiting the Defra Consultation website by clicking on under "Related Articles" to the right of this page.
Contaminated land in rural areas - Our views
Our response to the consultation focused on our belief that contaminated land is a low risk in rural areas when compared with urban areas that have been subject to many years of historical industrial activities. We believe that investigation of potentially contaminated land should be seen as a low priority for local authorities in most rural areas.
Most contaminated land in England and Wales has been dealt with during the development of brownfield land through the planning process. In some cases, developers have reported that they have been required to remediate land to excessively high standards incurring unnecessary costs. Defra were also concerned that it can take too long for authorities to dismiss low risk sites, undermining the principles of the regime which is meant to focus on higher risk sites. This can cause stress and major inconvenience to people living on or near the sites (i.e. causing land "blight" in some cases while the site is investigated). We supported the aim to make dismissal of low risk sites easier to avoid excessive investigation and remediation costs.
View our response by clicking under "Related Docs".
No comments have been made.