London: Many local authorities are currently searching for land suitable for waste management facilities so that they can develop 'state of the art' plants to help them achieve high recycling and recovery levels. This will also help them to meet their targets under the Landfill Allowances Trading Scheme, which aims to divert biodegradable municipal waste from landfill to satisfy the requirements of the European Landfill Directive.
In-building view of an incinerator stack.
Contaminated and derelict land has good potential to provide sites for future waste management facilities, and a recent report published by English Partnerships may be a useful item in the tool kit of local authority waste managers and their consultants.
The document Contamination and Dereliction Remediation Costs (Best Practice Note 27), sets out guidance on assessing the costs of preparing for redevelopment previously developed land or ‘brownfield’ sites affected by contamination or dereliction, according to English Partnerships
The Best Practice Note also provides guidance on pre-acquisition site investigations, as one element of ‘due diligence’ assessment, and it expands remediation costs to include the problems associated with dereliction.
The report confirms that estimating the cost involved in preparing these sites for development is a complex task which requires current and comprehensive information. A site investigation that has been well planned and executed, paying due regard to the site's history is very advantageous, though not always available.
Further information
A copy of this best practice note can be downloaded at
http://www.info4local.gov.uk/documents/publications/727581 .