Contaminated land guidance for developers

Although there are contaminated soils in Westminster frequently it is not possible to analyse because there are buildings already there. A building may be on the site of an old works with potential contaminative uses but there is no way of knowing if there is contamination and if so what it is e.g. oil, heavy metals, asbestos etc.

Thus we have recognised that some sites on which there is either partial or full demolition, identified during the planning process will be cleared up as part of the major development of the site. We will condition applications according to the Unitary Development Plan. These sites will be dealt with as they arise. The central London boroughs have written guidance for which there is a link below

• Guidance document to assist developers

This guidance is primarily for property owners, developers, architects and surveyors who want to know what information they should submit to the Planning Department.  Any contamination of the site is most likely to arise from a previous use of the site, or an adjacent site, that had an industrial activity on it at one time or another.

The inspection strategy ran up to July 2006. Details of the strategy are given in the link below.

• The Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy