News
Planning, development and environmental consultancy updates.
Read practical EnviroSolution articles covering planning conditions, contaminated land, coal mining risk, drainage, asbestos, ecology, energy assessment and other technical topics affecting UK development projects.
BGS ConSEPT record refresh highlights limits of local-authority contaminated-land data
A refreshed BGS catalogue entry for local-authority ConSEPT contaminated-land work confirms the value of combining geological, borehole, water-well, historic land-use and landfill evidence, while underlining that commercially confidential project material may not be available for wider reuse.
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HSE campaign renews focus on preventing workplace noise and vibration harm
HSE’s new campaign asks employers to identify noise and vibration exposure early, control it at source and use health surveillance and PPE properly where risks remain.
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Mining Remediation Authority opens £11.28m technical services framework
The Mining Remediation Authority has launched a four-lot framework for mine-water, environmental, engineering and delivery-support consultancy across Great Britain. Suppliers have until 6 November 2026 to submit tenders.
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Flood Performance Certificate pilots begin for homes in England
Defra and Flood Re have announced pilots for Flood Performance Certificates, intended to make property-level flood exposure and resilience measures easier to assess, record and communicate across the housing, lending and insurance markets.
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First reported Environment Agency TFA results widen groundwater PFAS enquiries
Reported Environment Agency monitoring has found TFA in 43 of 49 groundwater samples and all 50 surface-water samples tested. The limited dataset does not establish a national picture or site-specific liability, but it strengthens the case for targeted TFA and precursor-pathway review in higher-risk groundwater assessments.
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Aviva warning puts flood insurability into residential development appraisal
Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc has warned that homes now being built in flood-risk areas could become difficult to insure. For developers, landowners and lenders, the issue extends beyond planning consent to long-term value, financeability and exit risk.
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Conservative plan puts Environment Agency and packaging EPR into policy-risk focus
A Conservative Party proposal to bring the Environment Agency and Natural England into Defra, and to scrap packaging EPR, does not change current legal duties. However, it introduces a significant policy-risk issue for producers, waste businesses, developers and permit holders planning beyond the current regulatory cycle.
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Environment Agency landfill guidance sharpens WAC laboratory selection
The Environment Agency’s updated landfill guidance restates an important procurement point for waste producers: WAC leaching analysis, waste classification and basic characterisation are connected, but they are not interchangeable exercises.
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Teddington reuse pilot puts PFAS treatment performance in focus
Pilot results reported for Thames Water’s proposed Teddington Direct River Abstraction scheme have brought PFOS removal, operational resilience and environmental permitting into sharper focus ahead of any consent application.
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RPS 302 update adds notification step for selected low-risk impounding works
The Environment Agency has amended RPS 302 to require advance notification for three categories of low-risk impounding activity, while aligning its general conditions with RPS 374.
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Thornton-Cleveleys blood tests intensify scrutiny of Hillhouse PFAS investigation
New blood-test findings from residents near the Hillhouse chemical site have added a human-health dimension to the ongoing investigation into historic PFOA releases in Thornton-Cleveleys.
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Parliamentary answer reinforces asbestos assurance across imported product supply chains
A written answer confirms continued market surveillance and border activity on asbestos-contaminated products, with 69 recalls linked to OPSS and local-authority action. For buyers and suppliers, the immediate issue is evidence-led supply-chain assurance rather than a newly announced import-control regime.
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