New strategies put spotlight on contaminated land
In the past year hundreds of land parcels across the Central West have been identified as being potentially contaminated, but the system to let local councils deal with the sites is being stream-lined, under the successful ‘Contamination Central’ project being managed by the region’s local councils.
Orange Mayor Cr John Davis, OAM has welcomed the progress that been made on the project.
“Central West residents can feel safer knowing it’s becoming simpler and easier to find out about potentially hazardous materials left in the ground, because of the Contamination Central project which is improving land management responsibilities and valuable data managed by Councils,” John Davis said.
“Much of the potential contamination is a byproduct of the region’s mining and industrial past. While the region may have benefitted from these industries in the past, we also have to be responsible if there are any contamination legacies to deal with,” Cr Davis said.
Launched in October 2015, the project is funded by the NSW Government through the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s Contaminated Land Management Program with funding from the NSW Environmental Trust.
Eighteen Councils from Coonamble to Cowra and Lithgow to Lachlan have joined up to the Contamination Central project, with 300 staff involved in training. Local councils are making progress towards introducing new procedures aimed at :
- keeping a register of both current and historical uses of commercial and industrial land, which may lead to contamination, and
- providing information to landowners and prospective owners, including steps to manage contamination in the future.
Orange City Council’s Director of Development Services, Mr David Waddell said the work
of Contamination Central over the past 18 months had been invaluable in raising
awareness of contaminated land issues and supporting better regulation for site
assessments.
“Councils have a very big responsibility to ensure information about the history of the
use of a land on which their community lives, works and plays, is known and available to
someone who wants to buy or sell land,” Mr David Waddell said.
Mr Waddell said the new policy will stream-line the information that’s available to
residents.
“One of the routine searches that happens when someone is looking at buying land is
called a Section149 certificate,” Mr Waddell said.
“These certificates contain information on how a property may be used and any restrictions on development.”
The new policy will enable the council to comply with NSW legislation (Clause 7, Schedule 4 of the of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulations 2000) which requires that a Section 149 planning certificate identify whether or not the development of land could be affected by the likelihood of any contamination risk.
“Providing information about the contamination of land on planning certificates is aimed at giving a prospective purchaser of land, fair warning that in the event of a development application, Council may require specific contamination assessments to be carried out, and/or remediation if warranted for that development.”
Of the 18 councils in Contamination Central :
- Seven have an adopted a local Contaminated Land Policy;
- One is ready to be adopted at the next Council meeting in February 2017;
- Two more are ready to place their Draft Policy on exhibition
- Three have draft policies prepared to go to Council to be placed on exhibition;
and
- Five councils have not yet progressed due to amalgamation proposals, staff
shortages or other policy development priorities.
A range of printed resources have been developed for councils including a quick reference guide for
the main issues relating to contaminated land including:
- Minimum standards for consultants and consultant reports
- How to check for contamination in development proposals
- Reference sheets for the main contaminants of concern
- What to look for when developing sites to a certain standard (e.g. residential, commercial etc)
- How remediation should be done and reported
Community resources include a booklet and brochure that explains the new policies and the state rules
that apply when developing contaminated land in easy to understand language.
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