Information Management
9.0 Maintaining a Public Register of Contaminated Land
The Council maintains a Public Register of Contaminated Land. This is a written record of any determination that particular land is contaminated. The public register will include information on the land after determination of the land as Contaminated Land, including all data and information used to support the designation of the land as contaminated land – this can be found on our contaminated land webpage. There are currently no entries on the Council’s public register.
9.1 Data Storage and Requests for Access to Information
Information obtained and collated under this strategy is stored in both spreadsheet and GIS-based software. Records are also logged on the Council’s information database (Idox). The Council regularly receives requests for information on contaminated land. Most of these requests are in relation to land/property purchase and transfer.
The Council is subject to the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations. The Council will make most of the information held by it relating to potentially contaminated land available in the public domain unless there is a good and legally valid reason not to do this.
Note that while records will be made freely available for inspection, it may not always be possible to provide or allow copies of this information because of copyright restrictions, or further copyright restrictions might apply to documents made available. There are occasional circumstances where information pertaining to land condition may be deemed commercially confidential (such as under the regulations governing environmental permitting (Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (as amended)) and thus not made generally available. Information that if available would be prejudicial to national security or where disclosure might prejudice future legal proceedings will also be restricted.
The Council is aware that information on land contamination is a sensitive issue, as it can often contain terms and descriptions that are emotive, which if incorrectly handled would give rise to concern and blight. The Council can be contacted to provide advice and assistance with information of contamination.
The Council may make a reasonable charge for the supply of information, and for significant efforts to retrieve data.
9.2 Access to the Public Register
The public register will be made available free of charge at the Regulatory Services offices of the Council during office hours. Whilst it is not a requirement that an appointment is made, the availability of staff competent to answer any matters that may arise from inspection of the register cannot be guaranteed without prior notification. There are currently no entries on the Council’s public register.
9.3 Information to be withheld from the Public Register
As outlined in section 9.2, under certain circumstances the Council may not or cannot place information on the public register (or release in response to other requests). Circumstances where information is withheld include:
a) where it is in the interests of national security; and
b) where this is commercially confidential, or
c) where data is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulations.
Where information has been excluded from the public register for reasons of commercial confidentiality, a statement will be included on the register to indicate this.
9.4 Response to enquiries
All enquiries relating to contaminated land will be logged in Idox within the Environmental Protection Team. An initial response to the enquiry will normally be conveyed within 20 working days, except where pollution incidents are occurring during normal working hours, in which case it will be responded to on the same day.
9.5 Environmental Information Regulations
Requests for information are routinely received which will be responded to within 10 working days of receipt. An hourly charge will be made for the supply of the information in accordance with the Councils fees and charges. Where the Council must refuse a request for any of the reasons stated in the Regulations it will provide details of the reasons in writing.
The Council responds to specific written requests for information held by the authority on contamination, historic land uses and site investigation data. A disclaimer is added to the written response, making it clear that the information provided is to the best of the Councils knowledge, information and belief at that time.
This is consistent with the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. However, circumstances do exist where information is deemed confidential and will not be disclosed.
9.6 Complaints
From time to time the Council may receive a complaint relating to land contamination from a member of the public, business or community group. Interested residents may also voluntarily supply information relating to the condition of land that is not directly affecting them, their families or their properties. These complaints or acts of information provision have the potential to impact on the approach to inspection and so the procedures to be adopted are set out below.
A complaint regarding the quality of land will be dealt with as follows:
All complainants may expect:
- their complaint to be logged and recorded in the Council’s database
- to be contacted by an officer regarding their complaint
- to be kept informed of progress towards resolution of the problem
Every effort will be made to resolve complaints quickly and efficiently. The legislative framework does, however, present several obstacles to the speedy resolution of problems:
i. proof of a viable pollutant linkage before any formal designation as contaminated land is permissible, which might only be possible with detailed investigation.
ii. prior consultation with interested parties before designation as contaminated land.
iii. a minimum of a three-month period between designation and serving of a remediation notice.
iv. the requirement for the enforcing authority to make every effort to identify the original polluter of the land (or “Class A” person).
The regulations allow conditions ii) and iii) to be waived in extreme cases, but not conditions i) and iv).
All complainants will be asked to supply their names and addresses and, if appropriate, the address giving rise to the complaint. The identity of the complainant will remain confidential. The only circumstance in which this information might be made public would be in the case of a remediation notice being appealed in a court of law and an adverse effect on the complainant’s health was an important reason for the original contaminated land determination.
If a person or organisation provides information relating to land quality, which is not directly affecting their own health, the health of their families or their property, this will not be treated as a complaint. The information supplied will be recorded in the Council’s database, allowing officers to exercise professional judgement as to which legislative regime or regulatory actions are best placed to facilitate resolution of the issue.
Complaints and enquiries relating to Contaminated Land or land affected by contamination will be considered by the Environmental Protection Team. There is no statutory obligation for the Council to keep the person or organisation informed of progress towards resolution, although it may choose to do so as a matter of good practice.
References
- Environmental Protection Act 1990 Part 2A
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Environmental Protection Act 1990: Part 2A Contaminated Land Statutory Guidance April 2012
- Environment Agency, Model Procedures for the Management of Land Contamination, Contaminated Land Report 11
- Cherwell Local Plan 2011- 2031 Part 1
- Cherwell District Council Enforcement Policy September 2014