Havering Council is set to review its strategy for managing contaminated land, following discussions at a recent council meeting. However, the council's report on Zane's Law states that The constraint on staffing resource and focus on Arnold's Field has meant that the strategy has not yet been able to be reviewed.
The move comes as the council considers its position on Zane's Law
, a campaign advocating for stronger regulations and funding to address pollution from landfill sites. The campaign was launched following the death of seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola, whose family believe was caused by toxic gases released from a flooded legacy landfill site near their home in Surrey.
The council's most recent Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy covered the period 2017 to 2021 and is now due for review. A report presented to the council warned that implementing Zane's Law would have significant resource implications, requiring substantial funding to avoid impacting other areas of work.
The report also noted that Havering maintains a public register of contaminated land under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, with the last register published in 2017. The Arnold's Field site in Rainham was added to the register in October 2025. The report regarding Zane's Law states that the issues at Arnold's Field are more associated with smoke-borne pollutants through the air, and that the site has been formally identified as a contaminated land
site under Part 2A of the 1990 Environmental Protection Act. The report also notes that a soil investigation conducted in 2023 was not able to test as deep as the underlying landfill, but it is likely that the majority of the fires at the site are not due to material in the legal legacy landfill but due to the substantive amounts of waste unlawfully deposited on top.
According to the Cabinet Report - Zanes Law, Zane's Law proposes:
- Local authorities should maintain a register of land that may be contaminated.
- The Environment Agency should maintain a national register of contaminated land.
- Local authorities should inspect any land on the register and remediate land that poses harm.
- Local authorities should inspect previously closed landfill sites and remediate them if they pose a risk of significant harm.
- The government should fully fund local authorities to conduct these actions, recovering costs from polluters where possible.
The council also discussed flood risk in relation to landfill sites. The Cabinet Report - Zanes Law included maps showing areas at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea, and surface water, as well as locations of historic flood reports. Four Environment Agency landfill sites were identified as potentially being in or near medium or high flood risk areas: East Hall Farm, Wennington Quarry, South Hall Farm, and M25 (Junction 28). The report on Zane's Law states that No detailed analysis has been undertaken by the Council of these specific sites relative to their flood risks or to their location near to previous flood reports.
To support Zane's Law, the council could:
- Sign and share the petition with residents.
- Write to local MPs to ask them to support all efforts to get Zane's Law onto the statute book.
- Release a public statement and press release for media and Living.
- Post on social media using the hashtag #ZanesLaw.
