Contaminated Land Strategy 2026

Glossary and Appendices

Glossary

Alphabetical list of specialised, technical, or unusual terms from this document, with definitions

Appropriate Person Defined in Section 78A(9) as ‘Any person who is an appropriate person, determined in accordance with Section 78F, to bear responsibility for anything which is to be done by way of remediation in any particular case’.
Brownfield Site/Land A site that has been generally abandoned or underused where redevelopment is complicated by actual or perceived environmental contamination. Only a small proportion of brownfield sites will meet the definition of ‘Contaminated Land’. 
Contaminated Land

Any land which appears to the Local Authority in whose area it is situated to be in such a condition, by reasons of substances in, on or under the land that:

(a) significant harm is being caused or there is a significant possibility of significant harm being caused; or

(b) pollution of controlled waters is being or is likely to be caused.
ConSEPT Contaminated Site Evaluation and prioritisation Tool – Software which provides initial screening of potentially contaminated sites within a GIS environment.
Controlled Waters

These include:

(a) inland waters (rivers, streams, underground streams, canals, lakes, reservoirs);

(b) groundwaters (any water contained in underground strata, wells or boreholes);

(c) territorial waters (the sea within three miles of a baseline); and

(d) coastal waters ( the sea within the baseline up to the line of highest tide, and tidal waters up to the fresh water limit).
DEFRA Department of Environment, Food and Rural affairs.
Environment Agency A non-departmental public body, sponsored by the UK government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), with responsibilities relating to the protection and enhancement of the environment in England.
GIS Geographical Information System.
Hardship Where an appropriate person can demonstrate that carrying out a remediation action would cause him/her ‘hardship’, the Council will assess whether it is appropriate to require that person to carry out the remediation.
Pathway One or more routes by which a receptor can be exposed to a contaminant.
Pollutant linkage The relationship between a contaminant, a pathway and a receptor.
Ramsar site A site protected under an international convention on protection of wetlands of international importance, especially as habitats for waterfowl, named after the city in Iran where the convention was signed.
Receptor Sometimes referred to as ‘the target’ - the health of a person, waters, ecosystem or property type that could be affected by contamination.
Remediation Generally accepted as being the carrying out of works to prevent or minimise effects of contamination. In the case of this legislation the term also encompasses assessment of the condition of land, and subsequent monitoring of the land.
Remediation Action Any individual thing which is being, or is to be done by way of remediation.
Risk The combined effect of the probability and consequence of a defined hazard, or the probability of exposure to harm.
Risk Assessment The study of the probability, or frequency, of a hazard occurring; and the magnitude of the consequences.
Special Site Any contaminated land designated due to the presence of: Waste acid tar lagoons, Oil refining, Explosives, Integrated pollution control sites, Nuclear sites.
Site investigation The process of undertaking investigation on land to determine the condition of that land. The staged approach usually includes a desk study including a review of historical data and a site reconnaissance, and an intrusive investigation which includes trial pitting or drilling works, soil sampling, risk assessment and remediation works.

Appendix A

List of Consultees

  1. Oxfordshire County Council
  2. English Heritage
  3. Natural England
  4. Environment Agency
  5. Food Standards Agency
  6. Health and Safety Executive
  7. West Oxfordshire District Council (2026)

Appendix B

Table A: Categories of significant harm

Type of receptor Description of harm to that type of receptor that is to be regarded as significant harm

Human beings

 

 

 

Death, disease, serious injury, genetic mutation, birth defects or the impairment of reproductive functions.

For these purposes, disease is to be take to mean an unhealthy condition of the body or a part of it and can include, for example, cancer, liver dysfunction or extensive skin ailments. Mental dysfunction is included only insofar as it is attributable to the effects of a pollutant on the body of the person concerned.

In this chapter, this description of significant harm is referred to as a "human health effect.

Any ecological system, or living organism forming part of such a system, within a location which is part

  • an area notified as an area of special scientific interest under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981;
  • any land declared a national nature reserve under Section 35 of that Act;
  • any area designated as a marine nature reserve under Section 36 of that Act;
  • an area of special protection for birds, established under Section 3 of that Act;
  • any European Site within the meaning of Regulation 10 of the Conservation(Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994 (i.e. Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas);
  • any candidate Special Areas of Conservation or potential Special Protection Areas given equivalent protection;
  • any habitat or site afforded policy protection under paragraph 13 of the Planning Policy Guidance Noted 9 (PPG9) on nature conversation (i.e. candidate Special Areas of Conservation potential Special Protection Areas and listed Ramsar sites); or
  • any nature reserve established under Section 21 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949.; or
  • any National Park designated under the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000

For any protected location:

  • harm which results in an irreversible adverse change, or in some other substantial adverse change, in the functioning of the ecological system within any substantial part of that location; or
  • harm which affects any species of special interest within that location and which endangers the long-term maintenance of the population of that species at that location.

In addition, in the case of a protected location which is a European Site (or a candidate Special Area of Conservation or a potential Special Protection Area), harm which is incompatible with the favourable conservation status of natural habitats at that location or species typically found there.

In determining what constitutes such harm, the local authority should have regard to the advice of Natural England and to the requirements of the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994.

In this Chapter, this description of significant harm is referred to as an "ecological system effect".

 

 

 

 

 

 

Property in the form of:

  • crops, including timber.
  • produce grown domestically, or on allotments, for consumption;
  • livestock;
  • other owned or domesticated animals;
  • wild animals which are the subject of shooting or fishing rights.

For crops, a substantial diminution in yield or other substantial loss in their value resulting from death, disease or other physical damage. For domestic pets, death, serious disease or serious physical damage. For other property in this category, a substantial loss in its value resulting from death, disease or other serious physical damage.

The local authority should regard a substantial loss in value as occurring only when a substantial proportion of the animals or crops are dead or otherwise no longer fit for their intended purpose. Food should be regarded as being no longer fit for purpose when it fails to comply with the provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990. Where a diminution in yield or loss in value is caused by a pollutant linkage, a 20% diminution or loss should be regarded as a benchmark for what constitutes a substantial diminution or loss.

In this chapter, this description of significant harm is referred to as an "animal or crop effect"
Property in the form of buildings For this purpose, "building" means “any structure or erection, and any part of a building including any part below ground level, but does not include plant or machinery comprised in a building”

Structural failure, substantial damaged or substantial interference with any right of occupation.

For this purpose, the local authority should regard substantial damage or substantial interference as occurring when any party of the building ceases to be capable of being used for the purpose for which it is or was intended.

Additionally, in the case of a scheduled Ancient Monument, substantial damage should be regarded as occurring when the damage significantly impairs the historic, architectural, traditional, artistic or archaeological interest by reason of which the monument was scheduled.

In this chapter, this description of significant harm is referred to as a "building effect".

Table B: Categories of significant harm

Descriptions of Significant Harm

Conditions for There Being a Significant Possibility of Significant Harm

Human health effects arising from

  • the intake of contaminant, or
  • other direct bodily contact with a contaminant

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the amount of the pollutant in the pollutant linkage in question:

  • which a human receptor in that linkage might take in, or
  • as a result of the pathway in that linkage, would represent an unacceptable intake or direct bodily contact, assessed on the basis of relevant information on the toxicological properties of that pollutant.

Such an assessment should take into account:

  • the likely total intake of, or exposure to, the substance or substances which form the pollutant, from all sources including that from the pollutant linkage in question;
  • the relative contribution of the pollutant linkage in question to the likely aggregate intake of, or exposure to, the relevant substance or substances; and
  • the duration of intake or exposure resulting from the pollutant linkage in question.
  • The question of whether an intake or exposure is unacceptable is independent of the number of people who might experience or be affected by that intake or exposure.
Toxicological properties should be taken to include carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, pathogenic, endocrine-disrupting and other similar properties.

All other human health effects (particularly by way of explosion or fire)

If the probability, or frequency, of occurrence of significant harm of that description is unacceptable, assessed on the basis of relevant information concerning:

  • that type of pollutant linkage, or
  • that type of significant harm arising from other causes.
Such an assessment should take into account the levels of risk which have been judged unacceptable in other similar contexts.

All ecological system effects

 If significant harm of that description is more likely than not to result from the pollutant linkage in question, taking into account relevant information for that type of pollutant linkage, particularly in relation to the ecotoxicological effects of the pollutant.
All animal and crop effects. If significant harm of that description is more likely than not to result from the pollutant linkage in question, taking into account relevant information for that type of pollutant linkage, particularly in relation to the ecotoxicological effects of the pollutant.
All building effects If significant harm of that description is more likely than not to result from the pollutant linkage in question during the expected economic life of the building (or, in the case of a scheduled relevant information for that type of pollutant linkage.

Document control and overview 

Author Neil Whitton, Environmental Protection and Enforcement Manager
Document reference Version 3 July 2026
Approval General Licensing Committee: 29 September 2026
Policy review cycle 5 years (September 2031)