Brownfield land report says put sustainability first

The first ever authoritative framework highlighting the importance of incorporating sustainability issues right at the forefront of the remediation and redevelopment process could set the benchmark for improved remediation and developing better places on brownfield land, according to a new report. Launched this week by the UK Sustainable Remediation Forum (SuRF-UK, a Steering Group bringing together key partners interested in contaminated land, including SAGTA, site owners, regulators and consultants facilitated by CL:AIRE) ' A Framework for assessing the sustainability of soil and groundwater remediation' sets out why sustainability issues associated with remediation need to be factored in right from the outset of a project, and identifies opportunities for considering sustainability at a number of key points in a site’s (re)development or risk management process.

The Framework encourages the inclusion of sustainability issues in local planning strategies, project planning, design of remediation strategies, options appraisal, implementation and verification. In doing so, the report highlights how an essential link between the principles of sustainable development and the key criteria (environmental, social and economic) in selecting land use design with sustainable remediation strategies and treatments is identified. The Report allows the following to be done:

* Place remediation at the heart of sustainable development;
* Use sustainability indicators to optimise remediation decisions;
* Measure the costs and wider benefits of remediation projects; and
* Speed up decision-making by using a framework developed jointly by industry, regulators and other experts.

While legislation and good practice guidance have encouraged remediation to contribute to sustainable development goals, no formal and authoritative framework has previously been published to guide such an assessment.

The Framework will be a useful part of the decision making process where remediation measures are required in dealing with historic or new contamination under all relevant regulatory regimes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and is flexible enough that it can also be applied to remediation decision-making within regulatory systems beyond the UK.

Jane Garrett, chief executive at SuRF-UK’s facilitator, CL:AIRE, said: 'CL:AIRE is delighted to have been involved in driving such a valuable initiative forward, and are most grateful for the HCA’s support and to industry for the many hours of time that they have given. The framework document is the main deliverable of Phase One of SuRF-UK and is the result of a true partnership between industry through SAGTA members, regulators, consultants and CL:AIRE to provide a document that will now provide assessors with the means to undertake a sustainability assessment of soil and groundwater remediation.'

Also released are new figures from the National Land Use Database of Previously Developed Land (NLUD-PDL) which show that local authorities identified an estimated 63,759 ha of PDL in England. Some 51% of this total is vacant or derelict, which is down by 20% compared with 2002.

The figures are from the report “Previously Developed Land that may be available for redevelopment” that presents a statistical summary of survey results of both the supply of vacant and derelict sites and in use sites that may be available for redevelopment from 2008. The report also looks at a range of measurements concerning the potential reuse of PDL, including housing, across England as identified by local authorities.