Contaminated land

Whilst many of these are lying harmlessly dormant, many are derelict and detract from the appearance of the neighbourhood. Some may even be harmful to health or may be polluting our water resources. However, these “brown field” sites are potentially valuable and therefore ripe for redevelopment. If they were cleaned up and brought back into beneficial use they could provide opportunities for community regeneration.

This may be achieved through the development control process as and when planning applications are made. Conditions may be added to planning approval requiring these sites to be investigated and made safe for their future use prior to redevelopment.

The Council’s Public Health & Protection department work closely with the Council’s planners and private developers to secure voluntary remediation of these sites in this way.

If voluntary remediation is not possible the Council’s Public Health & Protection department has powers to require the polluters to pay for remediation of “contaminated land”, which is causing significant harm, where:

• there are harmful substances in, on or under the land or

• water pollution is being caused by substances at the site

and where

• the land contains a source of pollution and

• someone (or something) could be affected by the pollutant and

• there is a pathway by which the pollution can get to the 'receptor'

The Council has published its “Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy” which details how we have identified potentially contaminated sites, how we prioritise their inspection and what happens next.

Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy (revised 2023)

In some cases (detailed in the Contaminated land Inspection Strategy) Natural Resources Wales may take over the regulation of a site from the Council, once it has been declared as 'contaminated land'.

The Contaminated Land Register

Part 2A, Environmental Protection Act 1990 (Section 78R) requires Local Authorities to maintain a public register which acts as a permanent record of  specific regulatory action taken in relation to the remediation of contaminated land. Certain information may be excluded from the public register on the grounds of commercial confidentiality or national security.

The Contaminated Land Public Register Index

A paper copy of the public register (the Contaminated Land Register) is also available to view free of charge during normal office hours at Ty Elai, Dinas Isaf East, Williamstown, Tonypandy, CF40 1NY.

To make a prior appointment to visit our offices, please Email us at EnvironmentalPollution@rctcbc.gov.uk or call us on 01443 425001.

The Contaminated Land Register does not include details of:

• land which has been formally determined as contaminated land but not yet subject to relevant regulatory activity,
• land which has been identified as potentially contaminated under the Council’s Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy,
• research documents used to investigate potentially contaminated land.
• land which has been remediated through the planning and development control process  

Such information about specific sites may be made available under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. A fee will be charged prior to us undertaking any search of our records to identify relevant information. The fee will be based on an estimate of the time it will take to search our records and is charged at the rate of £25.00 per hour with a minimum fee of £25.00. There will be an additional charge for photocopying documents if required.

Enquiries should be made to EnvironmentalPollution@rctcbc.gov.uk and should include the site's address/grid reference and plan clearly showing the site’s boundary.

Re-use of Brownfield Sites

When you buy land in Rhondda Cynon Taf, you are advised to ask the Council’s Land Charges department to undertake a Local Land Search . This will tell you if the site has been declared 'contaminated land'. There will be a charge for this service.

• Development of Land Affected By Contamination Guide for Developers 2023

• Requirements for the Chemical Testing of Imported Materials for Various End Uses and Validation of Cover Systems

Contact Information

Telephone: 01443 425001
Email: EnvironmentalPollution@Rhondda-cynon-taff.gov.uk