Liaison and Communication
8.0 Internal communication
Before any site is determined as contaminated land, relevant departments within the Council will be consulted for their views and a brief will be produced to inform senior management and Legal Services. Elected members, in whose area the site is located, will also be informed of the proposed statutory determination.
Members of the Cabinet will also be informed at the earliest opportunity of any plans to determine Council owned land where the Council might be considered the Appropriate Person and liable for remediation costs.
8.1 Communication with other statutory bodies
As a local authority, the Council is the primary regulator for dealing with land which is affected by contamination. The Environment Agency, as the national environmental regulatory body, compliments this role and thus it is important for both organisations to exchange and rely on information from each other. The Council will provide information to the Environment Agency as necessary to fulfil its duties under the contaminated land regime.
The Council will contact the Environment Agency on designation of a site as contaminated land and whenever a remediation notice, statement or declaration is issued or agreed.
The Environment Agency is also required to report annually to the Secretary of State on the state of contaminated land in England and Wales. This includes:
- A summary of local authority inspection strategies, including progress and effectiveness;
- The amount of identified contaminated land and the nature of contamination; and
- Measures taken to remediate contaminated land.
The Council will provide information, upon request, to the Environment Agency to allow it to fulfil its reporting obligations to the Secretary of State.
When considering determination of a potentially contaminated site, the Council will engage in consultation with any other organisations that might have an interest in the site or that might be able to provide help and assistance. Such organisations include other affected Local Authorities, Public Health England, the Foods Standards Agency (FSA), the HSE and DEFRA.
8.2 Communication with Stakeholders
The Council aims to proceed with the process of investigating sites in a transparent and open manner. It will act to keep interested parties informed and updated regarding progress with the site inspection, as required by the statutory guidance.
The Council is required to follow the procedures detailed in the statutory guidance when considering determination of a site as contaminated land. When requiring remediation of a contaminated site, the regulations provide an incentive for voluntary action. Also, voluntary remediation is often more likely to achieve a higher level of improvement in comparison to the minimum that can be statutorily required.
The Council will, therefore, seek voluntary action wherever possible, only considering subsequent enforcement action if voluntary action is refused or considered unlikely to satisfactorily remediate the site.
8.4 Risk communication
Reference should be made to the publication Communicating Understanding of Contaminated Land Risks: SNIFFER (May 2010). The Council will be involved in the assessment of risks associated with contaminated land and ensuring that unacceptable risks from contamination are appropriately managed.
Hence, there is a need to carefully assess how to anticipate and respond to the concerns, anxieties and expectations that may arise in response to land contamination. It is not possible or practical to eliminate each and every risk, i.e. it is not practical or financially viable to remove all risks from contamination, and in some cases, it is not technically possible to do so. However, public perception and concerns are very real and should be addressed seriously and with sensitivity as part of the risk management programme.
Managing the potential conflict around the risk issues requires attention to the content of risk information, and to the appropriate procedures at relevant stages in the decision making process. The procedures should address the following:
- The need for two-way communication;
- Transparency to create trust in the regulatory role; and
- Openness to enhance the legitimacy of the overall process to the stakeholder.
Risk communication should include the overall rationale and methods behind the assessment and management process. Risk communication for a site should be flexible in terms of procedures and reflect the content and history around a particular contaminated site.
8.4 Consultation on the Inspection Strategy
Consultation on the original ‘Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy (2001)’ occurred with Council members, the Parish Councils, other Council departments, relevant organisations and the public. This included the Oxfordshire County Council, DEFRA, Environment Agency, English Heritage, English Nature, Food Standards Agency, HSE (Appendix A).