The planning process appears unable or unwilling to implement the policy enshrined in the government's brownfield charter PPG3, and the ultimate result has been a slowing in homebuilding – to the lowest level since the 1920s and latest DETR figures show a 7% fall in new starts and a 5% fall in completions in the first quarter of the year.
Industry concerns about brownfield development have been gathered by Paul Syms, professor of land use at Sheffield Hallam University who has just led a major study into brownfield, backed by the RICS and Joseph Rowntree Foundations.
RICS Foundation's resulting report, Releasing Brownfields, reviews the impact of the government guidance to date on brown land. As well as PPG3, the industry has also seen the introduction of Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act, covering remediation. This too has brought uncertainties as landowners wait to learn if their land is designated as contaminated by their local authorities, and has yet to be supplemented by the new PPG 26, which will supersede parts of PPG23 and is due out later this year.
Syms comes up with a list of nine recommendations that could help facilitate brownfield homebuilding (see below). But as housebuilders develop expertise, they are questioning the government's simplistic rationale that brown is unquestionably best. "There are instances where it is better to develop green land," says Martin Leyland, Wilcon's strategic land director. Wilcon has introduced an environmental auditing process for sites, which measures sustainability of development through such factors as proximity to public transport. When, in a pilot study, the housebuilder put potential sites in one area through its auditing process a greenfield site scored better than all but two brownfield sites. "Deciding on where development is sustainable is more complex than simply opting for brown," says Leyland. But will the next government get to grips with that?
Syms' recommendations
- Planning authorities need to adopt a flexible approach to the re-use of land and are sometimes too constrained by UDP's and Structure Plans
- Developers need early dialogue with planners and environmental regulators
- Holders of brown land need to consider how they may contribute to the urban renewal process, while taking advantage of tax benefits
- Land quality statements or land condition records should form part of the sale and transfer process for previously-developed land and buildings
- Landfill Tax exemption should continue to apply where removal of contaminated soil to landfill is the best or only option for site remediation
- Improve communications between regulators and the development industry
- Create better information flows in respect of soil remediation methods
- Developers should involve the local community in development projects
- Government should consider how best to replace gap-funding grant regimes
Source
Building Homes
