Scottish Government

This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

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Clean up of contaminated land

06/12/2002

Funding of more than £4 million is to be committed to addressing Scotland's legacy of derelict and contaminated land and to reduce reliance on landfill.

Funding of £3.9 million is to be made available to 15 local authorities to clean up sites where there is a public health risk or blight on local communities.

Money is also being made available to help remediation where there is no prospect of a polluter being made to pay for the clean up.

A further £125,000 will help to support the activities of organisations working to reduce the amount of waste generated.

Visiting a derelict site in Greenock where Inverclyde Council is to receive £742,000, Environment Minister Ross Finnie said:

"This week we have announced over £10 million to put into action the Scottish Executive's environmental justice agenda. We are committed to delivering a country in which all our communities share opportunities to enjoy a cleaner, greener and safer environment.

"The bids that we are supporting will bring back into safe use notorious sites such as the old Baldovie incinerator in Dundee and areas of chromium contamination around South Lanarkshire and Glasgow city.

"The former tannery at Pottery Street in Greenock has been a significant blight on both the local population and the area as a whole. Remediation of the area will create new economic development opportunities for Inverclyde.

"A number of former landfill sites, such as Tarbothill, Aberdeen, and Cocksburn, East Kilbride, will be reclaimed for return to safe use.

"On Wednesday I announced £6 million to help local authorities deliver our target of recycling and composting 25 per cent of municipal waste by 2006. And today I am making available £125,000 to REMADE Scotland, the Community Recycling Network Scotland and the Caledonian Shanks Centre. These organisations are all helping to deliver our commitment to reduce the waste we produce and the land we waste by burying it.

"This funding underlines our commitment to transform the way we use our natural resources both land and materials. Bringing these resources back into use creates economic opportunity and protects our environment for the benefit of all."

The funding for contaminated and derelict land is from End Year Flexibility (EYF) and is to be allocated:

The contaminated land regime provides a framework for local authorities to identify contaminated land and bring about its remediation through the serving of notices. Local authorities also have powers to carry out remediation at their own hand where it is not possible to trace the polluter or owner, where such persons do not have the means to pay or where the council is the site owner.

A similar procedure allows the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to bring about the remediation of special sites, as described in Regulations 2 and 3 of the Contaminated Land (Scotland) Regulations

The additional costs of implementing the new contaminated land regime were recognised in the Comprehensive Spending Review in 1998 and in subsequent spending reviews by the Scottish Executive. Over the six years 2000-2001 to 2005-2006 a total of £24.7 million is being made available through baseline capital allocations for work associated with the contaminated land regime. The resources being announced today are additional to that sum.

REMADE has been awarded £60,000 this financial year to further their work on developing markets for recycled materials. The Community Recycling Network Scotland, established by the Recycling Advisory Group Scotland last year, has been awarded £40,000 this financial year to further development of the network. The Caledonian Shanks Centre has been awarded £25,000 to develop a local authority collection consortium for recyclable materials.