Press Release
First Brownfield Land Action Plan Completed

Issue date: 18 March 2005

The first Brownfield Land Action Plan (BLAP) for the east of England is due to be completed by Entec for the East of England Development Agency by the end of March.

The primary objective of the BLAP is to better understand, at a local level, the range of actions and interventions required to ensure the best re-use of previously developed land. This in turn will help to deliver regional strategic objectives in the chosen study areas.

The project is the first in what is likely to be a roll-out of BLAPs in housing land supply priority areas in the east of England and more widely. This is part of the English Partnerships’ and the Regional Development Agencies’ commitment to delivering both the National Brownfield Strategy and more housing through the Sustainable Communities Plan.

The area of search has concentrated on the towns of Harlow, Peterborough and Stevenage assembling information from the agreed sources on some 150 sites. Stakeholder engagement has involved workshops with local authority planning and regeneration officers, regional agencies and a series of one-to-one discussions with some of the main house-builders active in the region.

The GIS database which has been specially developed by Entec for this study will allow sites to be evaluated and brought forward for development within a phased programme up to 2016. It will be a working tool, available for use by the clients to monitor uptake and update with new site data.

With the study being the first such exercise in the region it has been necessary to consider wider ‘best practice’ issues to inform subsequent BLAPs preparation. It has therefore built upon a pilot conducted in the north-west, incorporating the lessons learnt into a revised methodology. Crucially, the study has considered sustainability factors, alongside the more familiar market supply and site constraint factors, in order to reflect fully Sustainable Communities Plan objectives.

Entec Project Manager, Peter Grant, said: “This project has definitely been a team effort using Entec’s in-house multi-disciplinary capabilities, including town planners working alongside surveyors, engineers and GIS specialists. Close partnering with the professional and technical staff at EEDA has also been a key to the success of the project.”

Enquiries to:
Emma Waldron
E-mail: walde@entecuk.co.uk
Tel: 0191 272 6337
Fax: 0191 272 6592

Notes to Editors

• The study comprises:
  • Database development and data collection.
  • Broad analysis of identified sites.
  • Site categorisation.
  • Stakeholder workshops and discussions.
  • Identification of key obstacles to development.
  • Identification of priority sites for action.
  • Concluding report to clients and stakeholder participant.
• Entec is one of the UK’s largest environmental and engineering consultancies. The technical and business skills of over 700 staff and associates are dedicated to delivering strategic, technical and engineering solutions which bring commercial benefits to our customers at home and overseas. This know-how is based on over 60 years of consulting experience in the public and private sectors. Visit www.entecuk.com for further details of who we are and what we do.
• Entec is the 2004 winner of the Royal Town Planning Institute Consultancy of the Year award.
• Further information about East of England Development Agency can be found on their website at www.eeda.org.uk or contact:

Richard Kay
Planning & Infrastructure Advisor
East of England Development Agency
tel: 01223 484682
email: richardkay@eeda.org.uk

Tony Taylorson
Senior Press and Public Relations Officer
East of England Development Agency
tel: 012223 484689

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