Funding For Clean-up

Funding for the clean-up of contaminated land is increasingly problematic, but it appears that the Scottish and Welsh governments are doing a better job than their English counterpart (see ENDS Report 21 September 2018 on the Scottish remediation task force). A notable recent example of a project in Wales, reported in ENDS Report on 31 October 2018, is the funding of cleaning up a housing estate on Anglesey. The Craiy Y Don estate at Amlwch was built in the 1950s on the site of what was once the world's largest copper mine and later a chemical works dating from 1889 which had manufactured fertilisers. The site was investigated with funding from the Welsh Government Contaminated Land Capital Programme and found that arsenic and lead were widespread across the estate. A significant possibility of significant harm was identified at 16 of the properties, due to the presence of heavy metals. The cost of clean-up was funded as to 60% by the Welsh Government and 40% by Anglesey County Council, thus avoiding the current owners or tenants being liable under Part IIA.

In September 2018 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced creation of a £1.93 billion Land Assembly Fund, to be used by Homes England and the Greater London Authority to acquire land and make it ready for market. Some of this may be used to tackle contamination, though commentators have indicated that this may be a lengthy process: ENDS Report 19 September 2018.

Text references: 6-17; 22-27