HC Deb 25 November 2002 vol 395 cc115-6W
Mr. Cox

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much land in the Greater London area is contaminated; and if he will make a statement. [82734]

Mr. McNulty

There are no figures currently available on how much land in the Greater London area is contaminated. A survey of London boroughs was carried out by LP AC in 1993 that indicated that at that time there were about 1,400 hectares of land that were not able to be developed for an alternative use without a significant degree of treatment.

Since April 2000 local authorities in England have been under a statutory duty to inspect their areas to identify contaminated land under part IIA ("contaminated land") of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. To date, local authorities have mostly concentrated on preparing inspection strategies. The majority of these have now been been published and for many authorities inspections are under way.