Landfill Check

Historic landfill sites in Southampton, City of Southampton

The Environment Agency records 39 historic landfill sites in and around Southampton, City of Southampton. covering roughly 372 hectares in total. The largest is Dibden Bay Reclamation Site at 216.31 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to special (hazardous) waste. Data: October 2025 revision.

Recorded landfill boundaries around Southampton (indicative, digitised at 1:10,000).

All recorded sites, largest first

SiteAreaLast inputWaste types
Dibden Bay Reclamation Site216.31 ha—HouseholdInert
Holbury No.1 Pit16.9 ha1991IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Riverside Park Recreation Fields16.72 ha—Household
West Wood13.36 ha—IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Peartree Green12.56 ha—IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Gang Warily8.6 ha—Inert
Gang Warily8.57 ha—Inert
Millers Pond8.31 ha—Household
Borrow Ponds Nos. 2, 3, 47.31 ha—SpecialLiquid / sludgeIndustrial
Refuse Tip at Lime Kiln Lane6.64 ha—Commercial
Land adjacent to Ex-Navy Stores5.79 ha—Household
Site C, Land Adjacent to M27 Link4.39 ha—Inert
Cobden Meadows4.18 ha—Household
Inner Dock3.63 ha—Waste types not recorded
Recreation Ground North Of Bluebell Road3.52 ha—Household
Land Adjacent to International Way Flats2.97 ha—Household
Corner Of Midanbury Lane and Cobden Avenue2.73 ha—Household
Marchwood Power Station2.71 ha—IndustrialInert
North West Of Franklyn Avenue2.52 ha—Household
Land Between Granby and Broadlands Grove2.47 ha—Household
Corner Of Bluebell and Lobelia Road2.35 ha—Household
Land East Of Lakelands Drive2.32 ha—Household
No. 3 Borrow Pit2.14 ha—IndustrialInert
Coxford Copse2.02 ha—Household
Aldermoor Road1.95 ha—Household
Land Adjacent to Warren Avenue1.94 ha—Household
Coal Barge Dock1.89 ha1981Inert
Kemps Shipyard Limited1.03 ha—Waste types not recorded
Former Tank 5 Area1.02 ha—Waste types not recorded
Exbury Gardens0.88 ha—Inert
Land Adjacent to Cycle Speedway0.79 ha—Household
Dry Dock No.50.73 ha—Inert
Junction Of Birch Road and Birch Close0.67 ha—Household
Land Adjacent to Lime Kiln Lane0.58 ha—HouseholdCommercial
Dry Dock No.40.47 ha—Waste types not recorded
Dry Dock No.30.47 ha—Waste types not recorded
Dry Dock No.10.23 ha—Waste types not recorded
Dry Dock No.20.13 ha—Waste types not recorded
Quayside Marina0.03 ha—Inert

What this data does — and doesn't — cover

  • Licensed-era records only. Waste licensing began in 1974. Older tips — especially small pre-war ones — are incompletely recorded, so absence from this data does not mean no landfill ever existed here.
  • Not the contaminated-land register. Councils hold a separate register of land determined as contaminated. A historic landfill entry is not a contamination determination, and vice versa.
  • Boundaries are indicative. Digitised at 1:10,000 scale; some are buffers around a point rather than surveyed edges.
  • Not a substitute for a formal environmental search. If you're buying, your conveyancer's environmental search checks this and several other sources.

EA Historic Landfill dataset, October 2025 revision. More on the methodology page.

Common questions

How many former landfill sites are there in Southampton?
39 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Southampton town centre in the Environment Agency's Historic Landfill dataset (October 2025 revision). Pre-1974 sites are incompletely recorded, so the true historical number is likely higher.
How do I check a specific address in Southampton?
Search the postcode on Landfill Check — you'll see every recorded site within 1km, with distance, direction and waste types, measured to the site boundary.

Nearby areas

Worth reading: buying a house near a former landfill and what the waste types mean.