The contaminated land regime

Statutory contaminated land

Statutory contaminated land is land that meets the definition of contaminated land set out within Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, namely:

‘any land which appears to the local authority in whose area it is situated to be in such a condition, by reason of substances in, on or under the land, that:

• significant harm is being caused or there is a significant possibility of such harm being caused;
• or pollution of controlled waters is being, or is likely to be caused.’

Statutory guidance, Defra circular 01/2006: contaminated land , also clarifies this definition, identifying the types of harm and pollution that will result in land being identified as contaminated land.

Reading the information and documents on this page is important to enable a good understanding of our approach to dealing with contaminated land.

Contaminated land strategy/policy

In October 2022, we revised and updated our Contaminated Land Strategy. This takes account of the progress we’ve made since we introduced the previous strategy and the changes in government guidance. The strategy sets out how we deal with contamination issues in Hackney.

See contaminated land strategy (PDF 887kb).

See procedure note Part 2A (PDF 135kb).

Contaminated land information and register

For details of available contaminated land information and how to access it, visit Contaminated land – planning and building.

Other available information includes:

• contaminated land register (google sheets)
• determinations of land as contaminated land documents (google drive)
• prioritisation documents 1 to 175

We’ve completed site walkovers and initial desk study work for prioritisation groups 7, 36, 48, 73, 123, 128 and 146. Contact us to get copies of these reports.

Environmental damage

The Environmental Damage Regulations 2015 require us to take action where damage to land and some instances of damage to water resources are occurring.

We will update this page with more information,including site investigation and remediation documentation soon. In the meantime, contact us.