Land Contamination

There is a legal framework in England to tackle the legacy of contaminated land left as a consequence of previous industrial development.  It requires local authorities to have a written strategy for handling issues relating to contaminated land in their areas.

Environmental Protection has been involved in the assessment and inspection of land likely to have been contaminated over the years. This included contact with other council services, landowners, householders and various bodies. Currently land is assessed entirely through the planning process.

The long term aim is to ensure that all land within the Royal Borough is suitable for use.  The Councils Contaminated Land Strategy will be updated and be available to view or download.

The Council will always actively seek voluntary remediation of contaminated land sites, by the persons responsible for the land, wherever possible. 

It should be noted that on many occasions, land may be found to contain contamination simply because anything undesirable can be called "contamination". But contaminated land is specifically defined in the legal framework and if it doesn't meet that definition, we are unable to take any action.

We are legally required to keep a Contaminated land Register that can be accessed by the public. There are no sites within The Royal Borough which are on this register.

Environmental Search

We offer a service to prospective house buyers/sellers and other interested parties to supply site-specific information related to land contamination in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead area.

The standard environmental search will include a search of our records for information about contamination on the site and for past uses that may have involved contaminative processes.

We currently charge £135 for commercial searches.

Pay for Land contamination environmental search