A York Council report claims that there are 3690 potentially contaminated pieces of land in the City.

The report goes on the record that there were 88 high priority sites requiring investigation with most scheduled to receive an assessment ahead of any development in the area.

However, it claims that 6 categories A sites have still not been inspected 16 years after legislation was introduced to deal with the issue.

13 sites were investigated (including those near Foxwood Lane/Gale Lane  and Westfield Place) but were not found to require attention.

There are currently no sites on the Councils contaminated land register.

While the detritus from three centuries of industrial activity in the City will lead to some residual issues, the risks do appear to be low.

Nevertheless, the Council should have revealed all 88″at risk” locations and, in particular, the 6 sites which still require an inspection.