Contaminated land

Contaminated land is land that contains substances either on the surface or below ground that present a risk of significant harm to human health or to our wider environment, including water resources, the local ecosystem and structures.

What we do about contaminated land

We are responsible for enforcing the 'contaminated land' legislation. We:

• publish a Contaminated Land Strategy, which says how we will deal with contaminated sites in the area
• assist in finding out who is responsible for putting right the contamination and discuss the problem with them
• formally declare land contaminated
• agree the necessary action before works are carried out
• keep a Public Register of contaminated land sites.

Action required

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.

Who pays?

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.

Development on contaminated land

The national objectives are contained in Government advice to all local authorities.

The priority objectives are seen as the prevention of new contamination via the pollution control regimes and a 'suitable for use' approach so as to bring existing sites which may be contaminated back into use (land reclamation).

We will ensure that any development on land that has been subject to contaminating use is only undertaken after a thorough investigation of the nature and degree of contamination.

No development will be permitted until the site has been decontaminated to the highest standard, appropriate to its proposed end use.

Contaminated land enquiry

We charge £55 to conduct a search of our contaminated land records.

Who to contact

You can contact us by phone or email or by visiting our offices.

Environmental Health
2 Herne Hill Road
London
SE24 0AU
Phone: 020 7926 6111
Fax: 020 7926 6130
Email: noise@lambeth.gov.uk