Environmental Planning Conditions
Paul Downing
Environmental planning conditions are placed on a planning consents when they are granted. These commit the owner to comply with the condition prior to any work starting on the building development. The most common of environmental planning conditions is one related to contaminated land.
Quite often local authorities requires the developer/owner to complete a contaminated land survey to establish that the development will not disturb any existing contamination from historical uses or introduce any new hazards onto the site with a pollution potential. There may be known soil or groundwater contamination on the site and it may be necessary to quantify this before the development begins.
In order to discharge this type of condition it is usual to complete a Phase 1 Desktop Survey and to review historical information and risk assess the likelihood of contamination at the site. Quite often this is the end of the process especially if the risk assessment comes back as low risk or negative. However if there is a risk of contamination then it may be necessary to go one step further and conduct a Phase 2 Intrusive survey to take soil and ground water samples to fully quantify the risk and levels of contamination.
There are of course other conditions related to ecology surveys, bat assessments, noise and habitats, however the contaminated land condition is one of the most common environmental planning conditions.
If you are a private developer with only one residential development unit or an industrial facility looking to expand your factory operations, we can help you discharge your environmental planning conditions and help with any permits applications that may be associated with the process.
Call us on 07790147084 or Email Us for a free no obligation quote.