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Contaminated land

The UK has a lot of land that’s contaminated with materials from previous use. This can result in soil and groundwater pollution and potentially cause harm to human health, watercourses and ecosystems.

Examples of industrial processes that may have left land contaminated include:

  • landfill sites
  • tanneries
  • former mining areas
  • railway land
  • former gas works sites

Land contamination enquiries often arise during the property conveyance process.

Developments on contaminated land

We’ve compiled information on probable contaminative uses that have occurred across the district. We can supply a short search report which includes a summary of this information and a more detailed version. These are usually requested by developers or consultants with an interest in a site and its surroundings.

While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of this information, Newark and Sherwood District Council accepts no legal liability for any loss or damage arising from the supply of this information. You're strongly advised to make further enquiries via places like the Environment Agency,  Nottinghamshire County Council Petroleum Officer and the Nottinghamshire Archives.

You can also download the following detailed guides on developing land that has possibly been affected by contamination:

Development on land affected by contamination (PDF File, 1,147kb)

Verification requirements for cover systems (PDF File, 1,704kb)

Guide to developing land within Nottinghamshire (PDF File, 2,327kb)

Contaminated land public register

Newark and Sherwood District Council has not designated any land as contaminated under the definition in Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and as such does not have any entries on the Contaminated Land Register.

Contaminated land strategy

Creating our contaminated land strategy has involved undertaking surveys as well as inspecting a wide range of documents, such as historical maps from the Ordnance Survey and Council records on derelict land. 

The updated version of our Contaminated Land Strategy DRAFT (PDF File, 367kb) is available to view in draft format for consultation. If you wish to comment on the draft, please email environmental.health@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk or jim.hemstock@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk. A draft copy is available for comment until Friday 8 November 2024.