Stratford Gasworks is a brownfield regeneration scheme located on Rick Roberts Way, Stratford, London E15 2GN. Berkeley Group has planning permission to redevelop the 0.9 hectare former gasworks site to deliver 245 new high-quality homes, public realm and associated infrastructure. Due to its historical use as a gasworks, there is contamination of the soil which must be treated to make the land safe and suitable for its new residential use. Remediation and enabling works are therefore required before construction of the new homes can begin.

Remediation describes the actions taken to deal with a contaminated site, so that it is safe and suitable for future use and any risks to the environment and to people are prevented or managed. There are several techniques available to remediate contaminated soil. The specific approach to be used at Stratford Gasworks has been developed by specialist environmental consultants WSP and are set out in the approved Remediation Strategy. Further information on the methods to be used are available in the remediation documentation for the site.

The Remediation Options Appraisal and Remediation Strategy set out the intended remediation methodology for the site. These take into account the level of contamination present, the identified pathways to the most vulnerable receptors and the best available techniques for resolving these risks. These have been developed and agreed with the regulators, the Environment Agency and Newham Council along with input from the local community. Should any differing contamination and conditions that affect the previously identified risks be encountered during the remediation works, alternative solution are required to be assessed and agreed with the regulators.

The most contaminated soils identified during the site investigation works are intended to be excavated and removed from site. Only material that is suitable for reuse on site as encountered will be reused, with any unsuitable material being removed. Soil will be excavated, moved and stockpiled on site however no chemical or biological treatment of contaminated soils will occur on site.

The site cannot be redeveloped for housing with the identified underlying contamination remaining in place. In order to construct new buildings and create landscaped areas suitable for residential use, the contamination must be dealt with to bring the land to a safe and suitable standard as required by the Environment Agency and Newham Council. Remediating the site removes potential long-term risks to groundwater, the surrounding environment, and future site users. This does not require the removal of all contaminated material, and only the material identified as causing an ongoing risk will be removed. As the most sustainable and least disruptive approach, the majority of contaminated material will not be removed but will be contained by the design of the new development.

This takes into account the SURF UK Framework for assessing the sustainability of soil and groundwater remediation. Controlling unacceptable risks in a safe and timely manner whilst optimising the environmental, social and economic value of the work.

Government policy is for the landfilling of waste soil to be a last resort, with remediation and re-use of soil on site being the recommended sustainable option. Removing all contaminated material off site to landfill would also require a very large number of heavy goods vehicles travelling through the local area, with associated impacts on traffic, air quality and the road network. The approach to be taken at Stratford Gasworks will seek to minimise the removal of material off site wherever possible as this has the potential to cause more environmental harm than the identified risk of leaving the contamination in place. Further detail on the approach to material management is provided in the approved Remediation Strategy.

No chemical or biological treatment of soils is proposed on site. Soils will be removed from site for either treatment offsite at designated facilities or deposited for reuse or landfill.

The remediation and enabling works are currently scheduled to commence in Winter 2026 – 2027. Remediation is expected to take around 17 weeks to complete.

Following this further enabling works to achieve site levels, installation of a piling platform and the construction of the foundation of the new buildings (piling) will occur outside of this timeline. There are also remediation actions, such as vapour barrier and clean capping system instillation which will take place later in the development construction.

Berkeley Group is the developer and applicant responsible for delivering the remediation and enabling works and the subsequent redevelopment of the site.

WSP are Berkeley Group’s specialist environmental consultants, responsible for designing and overseeing the remediation strategy and for carrying out air quality, odour and VOC monitoring during the works.

The London Borough of Newham is the Local Planning Authority (LPA) responsible for overseeing the planning conditions attached to the development, including those relating to remediation and this Communication Strategy.

Newham Council’s Environmental Health Team have been involved in discussions agreeing the land contamination and remediation at the site and will continue to play a role in regulating the site during the works. The council have a statutory duty to investigate and regulate any potential nuisance relating to the site during the works.

The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It has responsibilities relating to the protection and enhancement of the environment in England and will be consulted on matters relating to controlled waters and the remediation strategy.

A specialist remediation and enabling works contractor will be responsible for undertaking the works onsite as per the agreed Strategy and Berkeley Group policies, under the supervision of WSP and Berkeley Group. They will be appointed prior to the start of works onsite.

Following completion of the remediation, a report detailing the works undertaken (verification report) will be prepared and submitted. This will itemise and evidence the steps taken and how works were completed on site in line with the agreed strategy. This will be checked by the EA and council’s environmental health team upon which it will discharge the relevant planning condition. This must happen before the development is allowed the be occupied. Although not directly involved in the development, third parties including UK Power Networks and National Grid Energy Transmission, Cadent and Thames Water, have been consulted on through the application process to ensure the development aligns with their assets and interests.

Responsibility for enforcing health and safety legislation on construction and remediation sites is divided between local authorities and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) according to the type of work involved. The HSE is the health and safety authority for construction works of this nature. Newham Council’s Environmental Health team has powers to investigate complaints of statutory nuisance, such as odour nuisance, and can take action where a statutory nuisance is found to exist or is likely to occur or recur.

The results of soil and groundwater sampling for a wide range of contaminants of concern has gone through various tiers of assessment including a Generic Quantitative Risk Assessment (GQRA), a Detailed Quantitative Risk Assessment (DQRA) and further assessment. Through each tier of assessment, soil and groundwater data has been reviewed within the context specific factors that drive risk – such as end use, depth of contaminants, etc. to refine the numbers of contaminants and the numbers of locations that are considered to present a risk. The assessments have drawn the following conclusions:

Human Health

The presence of Contaminants of Concern (CoC) (lead, cyanide, carbon disulphide and benzo(a)pyrene) have been recorded in shallow soils slightly in excess of human health Generic Assessment Criteria (GAC) for the proposed development end users. In addition, limited asbestos containing material and fibres in soils have been identified on the site. These risks will be remediated by the installation of a capping layer across the development.

Human Health – Soil Derived Vapour

The comparison of soil quality data and soil vapour analysis against the relevant GAC suggests that soil derived vapour does not present a risk to human health.

Human Health – Groundwater Derived Vapour

The presence of dissolved phase organic contaminants in the Kempton Park Gravel Member (C08-C10 aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, and naphthalene) have been recorded above the groundwater GAC in regard to the future site users. These risks will be remediated by the concrete slab and vapour barrier installed during construction.

Controlled Waters

The presence of residual LNAPL (light non aqueous phase liquid) identified in the south eastern corner of the site between Gasholder No.4 and the southern site boundary represents a potential on-going source of hydrocarbon contamination to groundwater and is the primary remediation action for the site.

The Contractor will be responsible for the provision of all necessary environmental controls during the remediation works, which includes management of contaminated soils including designated loading and haul points to control at source, wheel-wash facilities, sheet covering of vehicles and inspections to prevent material being tracked off site. . Measures have been included within the Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) which was submitted to the Local Authority to discharge the associated planning condition (Ref. CON/23/01337).

Good practice measures consistent with Guidance for Pollution Prevention (GPP6) and current Environment Agency pollution prevention guidance will be implemented to prevent contaminated soils being tracked off site by vehicles.”

Remediation activities of contaminated materials at the site may, from time to time, result in excavation of material containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which may have a low odour threshold.

Excavation and handling of material know to contain VOCs will be targeted and undertaken efficiently in order to avoid odour incidents. All materials will be covered on-site, to reduce off-gassing and dispersion of any odour. Should odorous material be excavated without intention, and without prior assessment of odour risk, it will be initially redeposited, and preparations made to ensure that once re-excavated it is handled and processed rapidly minimising odour risk.

Dust emissions will be controlled through the use of water suppression, sheeting of loads, speed restrictions, wheel washing, road sweeping and the management of stockpiles. Dust-generating activities will be monitored and adjusted as necessary, particularly during dry or windy conditions, to prevent nuisance and minimise impacts on nearby receptors. Dust mitigation measures will be implemented in accordance with the Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM) Guidance on the Assessment of Dust from Demolition and Construction and relevant Guidance for Pollution Prevention (GPP6): Working at Construction and Demolition Sites.

A baseline monitoring survey will be undertaken for VOCs and odour prior to remediation works. This will allow for any existing or cofounding potential sources of odour or VOCs outside the site to be identified and accounted for when undertaking VOCs and odour surveys during remediation of the site.

Once remediation has commenced routine and regular odour sniff tests shall be undertaken throughout the remediation programme. These will occur at the site boundary and at a number of nearby sensitive receptor locations.

In addition, a combination of passive and continuous ambient air sampling for VOCs on-site will be deployed. These sampling and detection methods will allow the chemical speciation and concentration of airborne VOCs during remediation to be achieved, when required. In addition, they will permit characterisation of odour levels and odour offensiveness as a consequence during remediation.

Remediation activities of contaminated materials at the site may, from time to time, result in excavation of material containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which may have a low odour threshold.

Excavation and handling of material know to contain VOCs will be targeted and undertaken efficiently in order to avoid odour incidents. All materials will be covered on-site, to reduce off-gassing and dispersion of any odour. Should odorous material be excavated without intention, and without prior assessment of odour risk, it will be initially redeposited, and preparations made to ensure that once re-excavated it is handled and processed rapidly minimising odour risk.

Dust emissions will be controlled through the use of water suppression, sheeting of loads, speed restrictions, wheel washing, road sweeping and the management of stockpiles. Dust-generating activities will be monitored and adjusted as necessary, particularly during dry or windy conditions, to prevent nuisance and minimise impacts on nearby receptors. Dust mitigation measures will be implemented in accordance with the Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM) Guidance on the Assessment of Dust from Demolition and Construction and relevant Guidance for Pollution Prevention (GPP6): Working at Construction and Demolition Sites.

A baseline monitoring survey will be undertaken for VOCs and odour prior to remediation works. This will allow for any existing or cofounding potential sources of odour or VOCs outside the site to be identified and accounted for when undertaking VOCs and odour surveys during remediation of the site.

Once remediation has commenced routine and regular odour sniff tests shall be undertaken throughout the remediation programme. These will occur at the site boundary and at a number of nearby sensitive receptor locations.

In addition, a combination of passive and continuous ambient air sampling for VOCs on-site will be deployed. These sampling and detection methods will allow the chemical speciation and concentration of airborne VOCs during remediation to be achieved, when required. In addition, they will permit characterisation of odour levels and odour offensiveness as a consequence during remediation.

Typically, odours are a mixture of multiple chemicals that interact to produce what we detect as a smell. Different life experiences and natural variation in the population can result in different sensations and emotional responses by individuals to the same odorous compounds. As such, the human perception of an odour and whether it is found to be acceptable, objectionable or offensive is subjective to the individual and can depend on a range of reasons such as age, health, historic association with the odour, frequency of exposure etc.

Odour is our perception of the sensation experienced from the stimuli a chemical compound that is volatilised in air and we interpret what the odour means. Odours may be perceived as pleasant or unpleasant. The main concern with odour is its ability to cause a response in individuals that is considered to be objectionable or offensive, which is not directed related to physical harm or illness.

Very occasionally an odour can represent an exposure to a chemical which could potentially be harmful to human health. Being exposed to unpleasant odours the majority of the time do not represent a direct physical health risk, unpleasant odours are typically useful indicators to protect us from harm such things as the ingestion of rotten food, not the risk of exposure to the odour or vapour alone.

A baseline monitoring survey will be undertaken for VOCs and odour prior to remediation works. This will allow for any existing or cofounding potential sources of odour or VOCs outside the site to be identified and accounted for when undertaking VOCs and odour surveys during remediation of the site.

Once remediation has commenced routine and regular odour sniff tests shall be undertaken throughout the remediation programme. These will occur at the site boundary and at a number of nearby sensitive receptor locations.

In addition, a combination of passive and continuous ambient air sampling for VOCs on-site will be deployed. These sampling and detection methods will allow the chemical speciation and concentration of airborne VOCs during remediation to be achieved, when required. In addition, they will permit characterisation of odour levels and odour offensiveness as a consequence during remediation.

If you notice an odour that you think may be coming from the Stratford Gasworks site, or if you have any other concerns about the remediation works, please contact the project team using the details on the right:

Update on the construction programme, including the remediation and enabling works will be issued regularly by the project team. The verification report upon completion of the remediation works will be issued and shared with the council for discharge of the planning condition, this will be publicly available via the planning system. Should any other changes to the remediation or monitoring works, these will be shared as and when they occur.

Community Liaison Contact: Ruby Maynard Smith
Telephone: 07747 706 395
Email: stratfordgasworks@berkeleygroup.co.uk

Project website: www.stratfordgasworks.co.uk

You can also report concerns to Newham Council’s Environmental Health team or to the Environment Agency’s Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

If an odour is causing concern for your health, please consult your GP or contact NHS 111.

If you notice an odour that you think may be coming from the Stratford Gasworks site, or if you have any other concerns about the remediation works, please contact the project team using the details on the right: