Erection of Two Semi Detached Dwellings, Congleton, Cheshire

Due to the sensitivity of the proposed development a contaminated land planning condition was attached to the decision notice.

The first stage of discharging the condition was to prepare a desk study report, this assesses the potential risks to the site from past land suses of the site and nearby land.

As part of the study the history of the site was reviewed, which revealed that the site was undeveloped until the housing estate was built.

Data provided by regulators did not identify any other potential issues.

On completion of the desk based assessment a site walkover survey was undertaken, which revealed that the site formed part of the curtilage of 87 Woolston Avenue and had been used for parking (an existing residential garage and the floor slab of a former residential garage were present on the site), the historical maps identified a number of parcels of in-filled land within 250m, which were discounted as credible sources of ground gases in the qualitative risk assessment.

The client provided a factual investigation for inclusion in the report, which when included in the risk assessment, demonstrated the risks form the mad ground on the site were low and remediation in lieu of an intrusive investigation was suitable.

The revised desk study report was accepted by the council and the condition was discharged. The revised desk study report was accepted by the council and the condition was discharged, the acceptance memo can be accessed here.