News release

Claire Brook, environmental expert at national law firm Dickinson Dees, urges councils and developers not to panic unduly following the High Court’s ruling against Corby Council on 29 July (a summary of case follows below).

Commentary in the media so far has suggested that the case could have a huge impact on the redevelopment of brownfield sites as developers and councils may be less willing to carry out reclamation works. However, Claire explains that the standards of care remain the same and why this case should not cause developers and councils undue concern:

“The Corby Council case has a number of unique elements. Firstly, the Court found that the Council had breached its duty of care in failing to take sufficient steps to fully investigate the site and adequately assess the extent of remediation required. Nor were appropriate environmental experts employed to reclaim the site, leading to poor practice in handling the removal of the waste.”

“Secondly, the initial reclamation work concerned goes back to the 1980s. In the intervening years, remediation techniques have become far more sophisticated and the regulatory scrutiny more stringent.

“Lastly, the Court described the reclamation as a ‘one-off’, involving a very large contaminated steel work site which was very close to a town centre. As such, it must be said that the degree of contamination at this site and the lengthy period of remediation works is likely to be beyond all but a very few brownfield sites elsewhere in the country. Sites such as those redeveloped for the 2012 Olympics for example, will in most cases be less likely to be subject to the wide range of contamination issues experienced on the Corby site as well as receiving more rigorous scrutiny by the regulators and having better technology to deal with it."

Claire adds that, for all these reasons, compliant and sensitive redevelopment of brownfield sites should not be derailed by the high profile attention that this case has received:

“Brownfield sites remain the most important land class for rejuvenating Britain’s cities, for providing housing and protecting the environment and population whilst doing so. The issues arising in the Corby case are very much the exception to this, not the rule.”

Case summary

The High Court case against Corby council was brought by 18 claimants who believed their birth deformities had been caused by their pregnant mothers’ exposure to noxious chemicals due to the council’s redevelopment of a nearby brownfield site. The claimants won the first stage of their battle on 29 July, with the court finding that the council’s actions had the ability to cause the defects 16 of them suffer. The key findings were that:

• The Council knew that the site was significantly contaminated (the Council’s EHO had put it on notice of the potential existence of contamination);
• The Council did not take sufficient steps to investigate the site to determine the presence, nature and extent of the contamination and was therefore unable to properly assess the extent of the remediation required;
• The Council had not employed sufficiently qualified or experienced personnel to manage the reclamation works in a safe manner and in accordance with the best practices at the time for the management and disposal of contaminated waste; and

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About Dickinson Dees LLP

Dickinson Dees is one of the UK’s leading full-service law firms. With offices in the North East, Yorkshire and London and nearly 700 staff, the firm provides legal services to public sector, corporate, commercial and private clients across the UK. These include the Go-Ahead Group plc, Govia Limited, the London Borough of Croydon, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Barclays.

The firm has one of the UK’s pre-eminent environmental law practices, advising on all aspects of environmental, health and safety and other regulatory law. The group specialises in offering guidance in achieving compliance with fast changing law, representing clients in regulatory enforcement and civil disputes and providing environmental support for corporate, property and commercial transactions, and major public procurement works.

Sam Pepper/George Baldwin

Kelso Consulting, PR consultants to Dickinson Dees

Phone:  020 7242 2272

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