Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy

The strategy for Solihull: Overall aims

The Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy sets out how the Council will contribute to improving the quality of life in Solihull, by protecting and enhancing the environment of the Borough. The strategy sets out the requirements, aims, communication and procedures for dealing with contaminated land.

4. The strategy for Solihull: Overall aims.

The reasons for writing this strategy have been described in the earlier sections. This section lays out how the council will go about achieving its objectives, prioritising actions and setting key milestones for monitoring progress.

4.1 Aims of the strategy.

Every Local Authority will have different aims for their own strategies depending on local priorities. Dealing with contaminated land issues is always a complex task, especially where limited information is available. For each site, the importance of these issues must be balanced in order to move forward. To aid decision making in Solihull the following table is a prioritised list of areas to be considered.

The Council's Priorities in dealing with contaminated land will be:

1. To achieve compliance with and enforcement of the statute
2. To protect Human Health
3. To manage future liabilities on council owned land
4. To encourage voluntary remediation
5. To encourage the re-use of brownfield land

This list is presented in priority order and in all cases will have regard to the significance and likelihood of being contaminated, as required by the regulations.

In order to achieve our stated aims we will adopt a strategic approach to the identification of land that merits detailed inspection, which is consistent with the principles of risk assessment. Accordingly those sites that display a demonstrable risk to human health will be identified as a priority.

The Council will recognise its responsibilities as a landowner and will discharge its duties responsibly under the legislation. This follows the general approach of "putting our house in order" before expecting others to follow suit.

Should land be identified as likely to be contaminated we will initially attempt to pursue a course of voluntary remediation in accordance with the principles of the Enforcement Concordat.

It is intended that all actions taken to establish and implement this legislation will be open and transparent, and that wherever possible information will available to the public as an attempt to increase confidence in the redevelopment of brownfield land. In many cases it is likely that the remediation of land that is contaminated will be carried out under the control of the Town and Country Planning regime rather than under this legislation. We will ensure that where this appropriate that the same open and transparent processes are applied.

4.2 Priority actions and timescales.

The identification and inspection process has been broken down and will form the basis of a project plan to define a series of key milestones. This project plan will be finalised in detail prior to the publication of the final strategy and attached as an appendix to that document. A draft project plan is described below and illustrated as appendix A.

Stage 1 - Preparation of Graphical Information. - (April 2000 - March 2001)

To begin the process of identification and investigation, data relating to known or potential sources, geological and hydrogeological pathways and sensitive locations are being overlaid on to a 1:20,000 map of the borough.

Data gathered in the early 1990's regarding "lost" ponds, pits etc. from historical Ordnance Survey maps that were transferred to a Geographical Information System (GIS) have also been transferred to these overlays. Once this exercise has been completed, this may identify areas that are considered to be a greater priority than initially thought and assist in the prioritisation of land.

It should be stressed that it is likely that only an extremely small proportion of land that was subject to a potentially contaminating use will meet the strict definition of Contaminated Land. Due to past uses of land many of these sites will contain substances in, on or under the ground, which have the potential to cause harm. However, under this regime the sites must have both a pathway via which substantial harm can be transmitted and a receptor upon which that substantial harm can be inflicted. If either the pathway or receptor is missing then the pollutant linkage is broken and although it may be in a contaminated state it can not be designated as contaminated land. In these situations we will ensure that should redevelopment occur this is addressed as part of the development control process.

Stage 2 - Draft Consultation Strategy - (April 2000 - January 2001)

A first version of the strategy will be prepared, following the technical guidance available from the DETR. Due to the need to meet a statutory deadline to publish this strategy we have not been able to wait for the publication of the final guidance. Consultation comments and revisions to the final guidance can then be taken into account as part of the final strategy.

Stage 3 - Consultation (January 2001 - March 2001)

The data sources that are currently held may not identify all potentially contaminated sites and as such the local knowledge contained within town and parish councils will play a major role in identifying gaps. Other local groups and societies may also hold valuable information. These bodies will be asked to provide any relevant knowledge that they may have on historical land uses or pollution incidents that they may be aware of.

It is hoped that the local press will assist in publicising the consultation on the strategy and it is anticipated that a number of interested residents may come forward with information on past land uses. A copy of the strategy will also be made available through the Council's Internet site as part of the general consultation process. The address for the site is www.solihull.gov.uk

This draft strategy will be sent to all of the statutory consultees and other appropriate bodies as identified in the guidance will also be invited to make comments.

Stage 4 - Publish Final inspection strategy (April 2001)

Provided the consultation stage progresses to plan, the strategy will be submitted to the March Environmental Health Committee and then to Full Council for ratification in April. After the strategy has been formally adopted by the council it will be sent to the DETR and the Environment Agency.

Stage 5 - Dealing with Urgent Sites. (April 2001 onwards)

Currently we have no knowledge that would cause us to believe that there are any sites that would meet this description. However, if it appears that there are verifiable reports of sites causing significant harm that are identified through the consultation phase or beyond, then the general approach will be secondary to dealing with such sites. The regulations recognise this approach.

Stage 6 - General approach to inspection (April 2001 - April 2005)

The Council's first priority in dealing with contaminated land is to protect human health as clearly stated in section 4.1. Land within the Borough will therefore be inspected in order of population density. (See Table 2 for population density's of the patches)

Patch 7 has the highest population density and as such will be subjected to initial inspection. This area was predominantly developed during the 1940-50s on previously greenfield land.

Patches 1,5 & 4 have the next highest population densities and all have a broadly mixed development history, which spans several centuries. It is likely that some of this development was on brownfield sites. These patches also contain a large closed municipal landfill site and the landrover factory, along with a variety of other industrial sites.

Patch 6 is ranked as priority 5 and was predominantly developed around the 1950 - 60's from previously Greenfield land.

Patches 2 & 3 have the lowest population densities and are comprised of several small towns and villages. These areas include much of the boroughs designated "greenbelt" land.

Table 2. Patch population densities to determine priority

Stage 7 - Council owned land (April 2001 - 2005)

The Council has significant land holdings within the Borough. There are other areas of land within the Borough that the Council (or its predecessors) has owned at some stage in the past where potentially contaminating activities (e.g. waste disposal) may have occurred. The Council may also have deliberately pursued the acquisition of derelict or "brownfield" land in order to develop this and improve the overall quality of an area. Within the general population-based approach to investigation, it is appropriate that these types of sites are subjected to investigation (and if necessary, remediation) as a priority. This follows the Council's general approach to "putting its own house in order" before expecting others to follow suit.

Stage 8 - Unitary development plan land (May 2001 to onwards)

As the planning authority for the area, the Council must draw up a unitary development plan (UDP), specifying which areas of land should be used for which type of development. The existing UDP was formally adopted on 22 April 1997. At the time of writing (December 2000), the existing UDP is being reviewed and a deposit draft is scheduled to be deposited for consultation in September 2001. During 2002 this will be subject to consultation and revision by the public and other interested parties. It is hoped that the new UDP will be published in 2003 and this will be reviewed every 5 years. If the Council is making recommendations about changing the current land use, it is logical to undertake investigation of this "UDP land" as part of the general patch based approach to contaminated land investigation. This land will therefore be specifically considered as each patch is investigated.

Stage 9 - Threats to controlled waters, protected areas of the environment and buildings (October 2005 - April 2005)

It is anticipated that the investigation of towns and villages will bring to light information that would reveal any imminent threats to controlled waters or protected areas of the environment posed by contaminated land. If the evidence demonstrates a need for urgent action, this will be taken as soon as practicable alongside the rolling programme of patch by patch inspections. If, however, the evidence is not conclusive then these areas will be included in a specific investigation of such threats, to be undertaken once the investigation of the towns and villages is complete. These receptors are considered to be important however the Council's priority is toward the protection of human health.

Stage 10 - Final prioritisation of linkages (January 2005 - April 2005)

The regulations require the remediation of contaminated land sites to be prioritised. This prioritisation can only properly take place once all sites have been identified and this will therefore occur at the end of the investigation stage, currently timetabled for April 2005. However should a site be identified as causing an intolerable risk then these will be addressed at that time and not be left until all areas have been evaluated.

A Risk Assessment method will be used to aid decision making by evaluating the source-pathway-receptor linkages to decide whether harm is or could be caused and how the linkages might be broken.

The Risk Assessment process is a staged approach involving;

The DETR propose to publish a methodology for risk assessment, Handbook of Model Procedures for the Management of Contaminated Land, CLR 11 and guidance on the levels of certain contaminants to assist this process. Unfortunately neither of these documents available at the time of writing, however it is intended that these documents will be used once published. It is also likely that a risk assessment package will be required for this stage but it is not possible to identify a specific package at the time of writing due to the absence of clear guidance from either the DETR or the Environment Agency.

Contact Details

For more information please contact Community Services

Telephone: 0121 704 6826

Email: environment@solihull.gov.uk