A Database of Developable Brownfields
'This article was published in the 8 April 2005 edition of Regeneration & Renewal (www.regen.net)'
The Brownfield Land Action Plan (BLAP) was commissioned by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) from consultancy Entec. By assessing sites within several new towns, it aims both to make policy recommendations on brownfield redevelopment and to enable its users to identify brownfield sites meeting their needs. Peter Grant, Entec’s associate director for planning in London and the South-East, answers questions from our panel.
Q What is innovative about BLAP?
A First, the development of a Geographical Information System database, which
brings the database to life, generating site plans, aerial photos and location
maps. Second, the ranking of each site according to three groups of criteria:
constraints on the site’s redevelopment; the strength of local housing
and commercial markets; and the site’s sustainability. Sustainability
measures test proximity to local services and public transport nodes, for
example, and include information that could influence local authority attitudes
to a site’s development – such as deprivation indices and the
council’s performance against brownfield redevelopment targets. BLAP
is currently a CD-Rom, but EEDA hopes to release it as a website later this
year.
Q How did you ensure multi-agency support for BLAP?
A By getting partners involved at the outset. We reported to a steer-ing group
including EEDA, the regional assembly and national regeneration agency English
Partnerships. We also drew in other stakeholders: councils, developers, housing
associations and local people.
Q Is there a danger that development pressures created by the BLAP could undermine
local development frameworks (LDFs)?
A In developing LDFs, councils must give preference to the development of brownfield
land – and BLAP can help identify the best sites for development. In
the private view of some councils, though, identifying enough brownfield sites
for all the housing they’re required to accommodate may undermine their
strategic plans by forcing development into inappropriate brownfield sites.
Many would prefer to build urban extensions – and as long as they’re
built in a sustainable way, they should be considered. Anyway, BLAP’s
sustainability index takes account of brownfield sites’ strategic location:
those separated from services will score poorly.
Q Isn’t it often better to reclaim
brownfield land as green space rather than build on it?
A In some cases, yes – and where a soft end use is appropriate, we’ve
recommended it. In my opinion, the Government needs to develop more flexible
policies in relation to the allocation of land for housing, and should reconsider
whether rigid targets for housing development on brownfield land are always
appropriate. It’s arguable that a much more flexible approach should
be taken, emphasising mixed-use and sustainability over brownfield housing
targets. Also, councils need to be less protective of brownfield land allocated
for employment use where the market for this end use is weak. Mixed-use is
the way forward for the redevelopment of brownfield land.
Matt Ross
The panel
Questions were compiled with help from John Holmes, director of regeneration
and tourism at One North East, and Chris Hawking, urban policy and implementation
manager at Middlesbrough Council
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