Home
BackYou are here: Home / Living in North Herts / Housing and Environmental Health Service / Environmental Protection / Contaminated Land / Development of Brownfield Sites
Planning Application Advice for the Development of Brownfield Sites and Developments with Sensitive End Uses
A Glossary of relevant terms is available.
The Environmental Protection Team is a statutory consultee to the North Hertfordshire District Council Planning Control Service. The team is routinely consulted on the following:
- proposed developments at sites with a land use history that may have resulted in ground contamination.
- proposed developments with an intended end use that has been identified by Planning Policy Statement 23 (PPS23) as particularly sensitive to contamination for example housing, schools, hospitals and children's play areas.
In both of the above circumstances the Team provides advice to Planning Control about:
- whether sufficient information has been provided with the application to enable the applicant to assess the risk posed to the proposed development by contamination.
- whether that information indicates that the development is possible in terms of the presence, or likely presence, of contamination.
- Where the information provided is sufficient and indicates that the proposed development is feasible then the Team may recommend a planning condition to be placed on any conditional permission that may be granted for the proposed development. These conditions will be recommended to ensure that any contamination issues identified by the initially submitted information are appropriately dealt with during the development.
- Where there is no information provided or where that information is considered to be insufficient then the Team will recommend refusal of the planning application with an objection on the grounds that it is not possible to demonstrate that the risk of pollution to human health and the environment will be acceptable.
It is encouraged that developers make contact with the Environmental Protection Team prior to making a planning application, as part of their pre-application discussions with Planning Control.
In association with the Environment Agency and the other local authorities in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, the council has jointly published the below advice note. It summarises responsibilities, contact details and the phased approach to the assessment of the environmental risk when developing on land that may be affected by contamination,or developing for end uses sensitive to contamination.
Developing on land affected by contamination planning advice note (261KB) 
The advice note is routinely included with notification of any planning decisions by the Planning Officers. However it is recommended that this advice note is considered prior to submitting a planning application because North Hertfordshire District Council is committed to encouraging as much information to be provided about the possible presence of contamination before a formal application is submitted. The reasons for this are:
- Annex 2 of Planning Policy Statement 23 (PPS23) makes it clear that the responsibility for providing information on whether a site is contaminated rests with the developer and that it is the responsibility of the developer to ensure that the development is safe and suitable for its intended use.
- Annex 2 of Planning Policy Statement 23 (PPS23) makes it clear that the refusal of permission is recommended in circumstances where there is a possibility of contamination or of unacceptable risk and no information has been provided or obtained that excludes the reasonable possibility of such contamination or risk.
- It can enable any problems to be identified early in the process which should reduce the likelihood of unexpected problems and delays at later stages of a development.
Contact Details
If you would like any further information, please contact the Environmental Protection Officer (Contaminated Land) via the Customer Service Centre on 01462 474000 or at service@north-herts.gov.uk or at the following address:
Environmental Protection Team
North Hertfordshire District Council
Council Offices
Gernon Road
Letchworth Garden City
Herts
SG6 3JF
