Contaminated land

Many areas of land have become contaminated by residues left behind by activities such as mining, waste disposal and general industrial processes. 

There are believed to be between 50,000 and 100,000 potentially contaminated sites within the UK. Most of these sites do not pose any immediate hazard to human health or the environment, but until the contamination is treated the land may be severely restricted in how it may be used. 

We are in the process of identifying and registering contaminated land areas. Where an area of contaminated land is identified, we will identify who is responsible for the contamination and agree what works should be done to prevent the contamination causing harm to health or the environment. They will also need to ensure that any development takes account of the contamination. Additional consultations and considerations apply to any built development within 250 metres of an existing or former landfill site. 

Certain types of contaminated land are classed as special sites. These are where the contamination tends to be particularly severe or difficult to treat. They are regulated by the Environment Agency. 

Further information can be found in the Planning Advice Note published by The Dorset and New Forest Contaminated Land Consortium of Local Authorities. 

Information on contaminated land

Information on contaminated land for your district can be found here:

• East Dorset Contaminated Land Public Register
• North Dorset Contaminated Land Register
• Purbeck Contaminated Land Register
• West Dorset Contaminated Land Register
• Weymouth and Portland Contaminated Land Register

Requesting information about potential contamination at specific locations in Dorset

If you need land contamination information about a particular property or parcel of land, we can provide the information we hold. Please be specific in the questions that you ask, so that we can provide the correct information. 

These enquiries are treated as requests under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. We charge £108.75 for the first 90 minutes work, if the information will take longer than 90 minutes to collect, we will contact you to provide an estimate of the total cost.

Please note we can report only on land contamination information we hold and can't guarantee that information is comprehensive or definitive.