Brownfield Gets The Green Light

With the Government issuing new guidance to councils regarding the use of Local Plans to safeguard against ‘urban sprawl’ on green areas surrounding towns and cities, we have seen a swathe of news related to the availability of brownfield sites that are prime (or already set) for future redevelopment.

The Homes and Communities Agency has said that councils will play a key role in highlighting appropriate brownfield land, and as such want to see permissions in place for homes on over 90% of suitable brownfield land by 2020. This could potentially create up to 200,000 new homes whilst at the same time also protect our green belt land.

According to a recent survey by property consultancy Daniel Watney, their data indicates that approximately 25,000 acres of brownfield land currently exists across the UK, which could be utilised for around 466,000 new homes.   This was based on 45% of council data, meaning that there could potentially be land for up to a million homes if all council land was taken into consideration.

We are already seeing industry land owners starting to take into account their land use, with National Grid pledging to free-up unused industrial land for redevelopment. 24 sites have already been earmarked for building, which includes removing disused gasometers. It is estimated that in the first 10 locations alone, approximately 7,000 properties could be developed across 84 acres of brownfield land.

Here at Landmark, we have seen this focus on brownfield growing over the past 18-months, as more and more organisations work together on identifying ways of remediating brownfield plots and rejuvenating them back into local communities.

Our environmental data and historical maps are able to provide a clear picture of exactly how the land has been used through the years, enabling thorough site assessments to be conducted so the correct remediation can take place prior to development.  

Recent enhancements to our Envirocheck Analysis tool give the ability to now see historical land use of a site overlaid with present hazards and environmental data.  This gives the ability to view potential sources, pathways and receptors together to gain a more comprehensive understanding of risk on a site and to execute a better phase 1 report. 

As such, brownfield land should not be feared for what might lie beneath the surface, but instead it is an opportunity for land that may have been affected by industrial or commercial usage in the past to be given a new lease of life, for future generations and communities.

Envirocheck Analysis - reveals the hidden secrets of an area or plot of land

Dataset Focus: Historical Maps

From 1843 to 1999: Get the full picture

Welcome to the first in a series of  'Dataset Focus' articles.  Today, we focus on our digital archive of historical maps, which happens to be the UK's largest and is designed to give you the most in-depth view of how your site has transformed over time.

We also provide some background to our Russian Maps, which were initially created by the USSR during the Cold War, and cover 103 UK towns and cities from 1950 to 1997.

Click here to access the further information.

The Data behind the Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is now well underway in Glasgow with 4,500 athletes taking part and many thousands of anticipated visitors and spectators.  In the build-up to the Games, the significant investment, redevelopment and regeneration of the city has been particularly interesting to monitor. 

The impressive Athletes Village has been built over 35 hectares, which is alongside the Emirates Stadium – a state of the art facility that opened in 2012, with a seating capacity of over 5,000 spectators.  The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome has also been developed alongside the stadium, while the SECC Precinct, which is just short of 2 miles from Glasgow’s centre, forms the largest single venue of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Having run some analysis through our Promap and Envirocheck systems, it has provided us with some great insight into the history of Glasgow and, in particular, the areas that have been subject to recent redevelopment in readiness for the Games.  

When looking at all of Glasgow’s venues, the first thing that we quickly identified is that there are over 4,800 instances of historic land use within the immediate vicinities.

The SECC Precinct has 36 instances of potentially contaminative historic land use within a mile of the site just from the earliest map alone, all of which are of a diverse nature: from transport manufacturing & repair, saw-milling, metal casting, through to cargo handling, railways and even the site of a former cemetery.

Historic maps also show that the SECC Precinct has been built on the site of the old Queen’s Dock. With the decline in shipping traffic, the dock became redundant and was filled in with rubble from the demolition of St Enoch station in the late 1970’s.

The redevelopment of the various sites in and around Glasgow really goes to show that past land use shouldn't limit or restrict future use or development.  By accessing the right data, it provides a detailed picture into the past use of the land, meaning the correct remediation can take place to enable future progress. 

With a current emphasis on building more residential properties across the UK – including re-purposing and utilising unused brownfield land or sites – it just goes to show that understanding the past use of the land can help transform an area for today and also for future generations to come. 

Contamination Concerns and Addressing Development Risk

An observant walker can readily pick out sites of historical significance anywhere in the UK; just keep an eye out for the distinct blue plaques and the previously hidden history comes to life.

However, determining the risk of the UK’s industrial legacy is a much harder task, more so when the historic site itself has long been developed. So how can we be certain of risks to health when we don’t have a blue plaque for past land use?

 Ordnance Survey map extract, hand-drawn Landmark analysis highlighting sources of potential contamination and ground instability.

In 1998 Landmark Information Group completed the creation of a unique database of Historical Land Use and Potentially Contaminative Industries, using guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Environment Act 1995.

The database was created under a Joint Venture between Landmark and Ordnance Survey (OS).The resultant data analysis and digital dataset has proved essential for investigations into the existence of historically contaminated land and previously in-filled land.

A recent news story has highlighted the investigation of potentially contaminated land in Paddock Wood, Kent. While local residents and the governing local authority await the results of the investigation, the media story is focused on the potential effect of the historical contaminants. How were residents to know about the potential for contamination?

Landmark Information Group has been able to report and detail the potential contamination at the site since the original mapping analysis was completed in 1998. Historical mapping displays the site of the works as it appeared on OS mapping: 

And the Landmark data, in its digital form, highlights the extent of the former works with contemporary mapping included.

In the example above, the area is clearly indicated as being affected by past land use, and historic map analysis of this type would have identified the source of potential contamination many years ago.

The case in Kent is not unique, but the problem can be easily addressed at the very outset. Such historical mapping can not only identify potential sources of risk, but can also determine if remediation measures are necessary prior to development.

Any site that is determined to be contaminated by the Local Authority is therefore put on their register and it’s worth remarking that Landmark also collates and reports local authority contaminated land registers, with over 1000 features available. However, often it will simply be a case of reassuring residents that any risk posed from historical industrial use is either negligible, or that appropriate measures were put in place at the very start of the development process. Evidence of an in-depth site survey is often all that is needed.