Backing Land Advice Your article drawing the attention of solicitors to the contaminated land regime (see [2001] Gazette, 14 June, 50) is to be welcomed.

The Law Society's warning card should assist busy practitioners, though the opening paragraph of the article is slightly misleading.It has been possible for a local authority or the Environment Agency to serve a remediation notice, which requires the clean-up of contaminated land, since1 April 2000 and not, as the article says, from 'the end of June 2001'.

We are acting for a number of local authorities, who have already formally designated the sites as contaminated land.While local authorities were provided a 15-month period to draft a strategy on how they would deal with contaminated sites within their area, there was no reason why designation of sites as contaminated land could not take place prior to the formalisation of their strategies.

Andrew Wiseman, Environmental Law Group, Trowers & Hamlins, London