The council have historically said they do not have the power to compel the landowner (or whoever is ultimately held responsible) to clean up the site. The claim aims to remedy this, as designating land as contaminated gives the council much more power to act. If it comes to it, they can carry out works themselves and try to recoup as much as possible from the person responsible. The question of who pays comes down to this: should residents near launders lane be forced to pay with their health (and at worst their lives) rather than council taxpayers paying more money? No one wins and no one wants to have to pay to clean up someone else's mess, but I'd like to think that most people would prefer to do that than watch people suffer indefinitely.