Skip to content

Contaminated land

Advice for residents and householders

If you have a concern your land has been contaminated then you should:

  • contact your house insurance company so that the matter can be investigated or
  • seek independent advice from an experienced environmental consultant.

We have a duty to make sure land contamination does not pose a significant risk to public health or the environment and can assist you with reviewing any proposals or reports provided.

For more information on what is contaminated land, please see the external links section of this page.

What can be done about it?

Cleaning up (remediation) of contaminated land can take many forms depending on the type of contamination:

  • removing the source of contamination
  • covering the contamination with clean material
  • mixing it with cement
  • treating the soil with microbes
  • alter the design of the development to minimise the risk if you are undertaking building works

For more information on how land contamination is assessed and any risks managed, please see the external links section of this page.

What can I do if land contamination is affecting my house sale or purchase?

If contamination has been identified as a potential concern, then you could:

  • appoint an environmental consultant to investigate – go to www.ends.co.uk for a list of consultants
  • get the appropriate environmental insurance
  • request any available land contamination information from us by submitting an environmental information enquiry form

Developer guidance

Depending on what you are planning to build, we may need to complete a full contaminated land risk assessment.

Our guidance leaflet for developers provides further guidance on what an appropriate assessment is and how land contamination is addressed through the development control planning process.

The contaminated land questionnaire contains more guidance on when this document is appropriate for addressing land contamination risks at your development.

Contaminated land public register

At present there are no entries in our district register.

Contact us - Environmental Protection

01235 422403
(Text phone users add 18001 before dialing)

Vale of White Horse District Council
Environmental Protection Team
Abbey House
Abbey Close
Abingdon
OX14 3JE