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4 - Profiles of Selected International Activities on Brownfield
Redevelopment
2.
United Kingdom
Scope of the Brownfield Problem
Across the U.K., brownfield sites result from
a wide range of former industrial activities, including mineral
extraction, coal and steel production, gasworks, electrical
generation, traditional engineering-based activities, transport
infrastructure and chemical production, as well as a wide
range of more minor industrial activities. In 1996, the Department
of Environment (DOE) (now part of the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs-DEFRA) published a series of nearly
50 "industry profiles," which provide information
on the history of different industrial activities in the U.K.
and identify the likely contamination problems to be found
on the sites involved.
A National Land-Use Database was started in
1998 to assist in the identification of previously developed
sites that might be, or might become, available for new development
uses. Work continues on populating the database, but interim
statistics released in May 1999 reveal there are some 33,000
hectares of land in England that are previously developed
and either vacant or derelict, and that might be suitable
for redevelopment. |
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Experience suggests that many potential brownfield
sites would not be revealed by such database or survey exercises,
because they become brownfield (sometimes only for a short period)
as their previous use comes to an end.
Policy Approaches
The key national land use policy aims "to promote
a sustainable pattern of physical development and land and property
use in cities, towns and the countryside." It includes the
following goals for promoting brownfield redevelopment:
- economic and social regeneration of the surrounding
areas
- environmental improvement of the sites themselves
- reduction in "development pressure"
on greenfield sites.
This objective is backed up by specific Public Service
Agreement (PSA) targets for 60 percent of new housing to be provided
on previously developed land or through conversion of existing buildings,
and for brownfield land to be reclaimed at a rate of over 1,100
hectares per annum by 2004, reclaiming 5 percent of current brownfield
land by 2004 and 17 percent by 2010.
The land use objective is also specifically linked
to a further objective "to enhance sustainable economic development
and social cohesion through integrated regional and local action,
including the promotion of an urban renaissance."
In 1999, an Urban Task Force set up by the national
government examined the current and potential role of national government
and other public sector bodies in urban policy, including the promotion
of brownfield redevelopment. Its report, Towards an Urban Renaissance,
made a series of detailed recommendations for future action. The
government set out its own framework of policies and programs, and
responded to the Task Force's recommendations, in an urban white
paper, Our Towns and Cities: The Future-Delivering an Urban Renaissance,
published in November 2000 by the Department of Transport (DETR).
This paper included what was described as a "new vision of
urban living," in which:
- people shape the future of their community, supported
by strong and truly representative local leaders
- people live in attractive, well-kept towns and
cities that use space and buildings well
- good design and planning make it more practical
to live in a more environmentally sustainable way, with less noise,
pollution and traffic congestion
- towns and cities are able to create and share
prosperity, investing to help all their citizens reach their full
potential
- good quality services-health, education, housing,
transport, finance, shopping, leisure and protection from crime-meet
the needs of people and businesses wherever they are.
The white paper included specific proposals to "use
the tax and planning systems to bring previously developed brownfield
sites and empty property back into constructive use, turning eyesores
into assets."
In general, comprehensive systems of land use planning
regulations have been used to control how redevelopment takes place
on brownfield sites, and not to force it to happen.
The main legal control on any development is the system
of land use planning set out in the Town and Country Planning 1990.
7 Any development requires specific planning permission,
which may control not only the location of development, but also
the nature of that development and the way it is carried out. In
the context of brownfield redevelopment, the planning permission
may contain specific conditions relating to site investigation and
assessment and, where appropriate, remediation of contamination.
Guidance to planning authorities on contaminated land aspects of
planning is set out in Planning Policy Guidance note PPG 23 Planning
and Pollution Control. This guidance is currently being revised,
with a view to publishing specific planning guidance for development
on land that may be affected by contamination. Brownfield redevelopment
projects above a certain size also require environmental impact
assessments as part of the planning approval process.
In addition, the Building Regulations impose a system
of controls over the details of construction of any building. These
cover a range of issues from the integrity of the foundations, through
to issues such as disabled access to public buildings. They include
specific requirements to ensure that buildings and building services
are protected from the effects of any contaminants in the ground
under the building.
Land remediation activities may need prior regulatory
approval under the waste management licensing system under Part
II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (which implements the
European Waste Framework Directive) or the system of Integrated
Pollution Prevention and Control (which implements the directive
of the same name). 8
Some remediation processes are defined (under the directive) as
"waste disposal" or "waste recovery" operations,
and therefore have to be licensed to ensure that they are carried
out without risk to human health and the environment. Other licensing
regimes may also be relevant in some cases (e.g. the Groundwater
Regulations 1999). The government is currently reviewing the operation
of waste management and other controls as they apply to land remediation
projects, and may introduce a more specific form of regulatory control
in the future.
Progress
In many urban areas of the U.K., the redevelopment
of brownfield sites is led largely by the private sector. A significant
proportion of projects take place with very little direct involvement
from public bodies and government agencies, except in their roles
as regulators, issuing and enforcing necessary approvals and legal
permissions (such as town and country planning). This private sector
focus may be the result of a combination of the following four factors:
- the fact that most of the current brownfield land
stock is already privately owned
- the particular "economic history" of
the sites and the industries that were formerly on the land
- the current state of the national and regional
economies and, in particular, the demand for land in urban areas
- conscious political choice by successive national
governments.
However, there are also significant government programs
to promote and support brownfield redevelopment. These programs
can be split into four types:
- spatial planning
- technical support
- financial support
- direct development by public bodies and agencies.
Spatial Planning
The system of "town and country planning"
promotes brownfield redevelopment largely by inhibiting or preventing
development projects on greenfield sites, and by making brownfield
land available for development. This is brought about by a hierarchy
of:
- national planning policy (set out by national
government in Planning Policy Guidance notes)
- regional planning policy (set collectively by
local government bodies in the region, and the regional development
agency), which also includes overall "structure" planning
for the region
- local structure and development plans (set by
the county and district councils), which make zoning decisions
for the future use of particular areas of land, and
- individual decisions on applications for planning
permission (made by local planning authorities), which normally
should conform with the relevant development plan.
This structure of guidance cascades the national Public
Service Agreement target for 60 percent of housing to be on previously
developed land or in converted buildings into more detailed regional
and local targets. To promote the achievement of these targets,
there is a new requirement, set out in a DETR Planning Policy Guidance
Note, for a "sequential test" for new developments. This
test means that a local planning authority must first satisfy itself
that there are no suitable and available sites that have been previously
developed before it can allocate any greenfield sites for new housing
projects.
Technical support
Technical support takes both proactive and reactive
forms. On the proactive side, national government and other private
sector-led groups fund research and development and the development
of "best practice" advice to assist the development and
construction industries in working on brownfield sites. On the reactive
side, the focus is on removing factors that might inhibit brownfield
redevelopment. This work includes:
- research and development on the application of
new remediation techniques and technologies
- confidence-building initiatives with the financial
and property sectors
- setting out a system of liability for contaminated
land
- reviewing the licensing system for land remediation
activities
- wider policy development on issues such as "land
assembly" for larger development projects, and changes to
the system of compulsory purchase by public authorities.
Financial support
Brownfield redevelopment is eligible for direct public
sector financial support where this is necessary to achieve social
and economic policy objectives. In some regions, public sector intervention
is essential to ensure redevelopment. Financial support for the
private sector can take a number of forms, such as:
- grant aid, either for particular elements of the
costs of development or as "gap funding"
- support for loans, including payment of interest
and guarantees
- other guarantees (e.g. income stream guarantees,
support for warranty purchase)
- partnership projects with risk and profit sharing.
Direct funding is generally provided by national government
through arm's-length public sector regeneration agencies, such as
English Partnerships and the network of regional development agencies
in England, the Welsh Development Agency and Scottish Enterprise.
In some cases, the funding is provided through local authorities,
either directly from national government or via the national or
regional regeneration agencies. In addition to these national sources
of funding, other projects receive support through Objectives 1
and 2 of the European Regional Development Fund and other structure
funds.
Recent years have seen a slowdown in government funding
for private sector schemes due to legal problems. The European Commission
has identified the main programs involved as "state aids"
and therefore potentially contrary to European Union competition
policy. This means that the programs, and in some cases individual
projects, have to be approved in advance by the Commission. The
move also places strict limits on the geographic availability of
financial support for private sector development and on the amount
of support for any individual project.
Other indirect financial tools have been used in the
past, such as tax breaks for development projects in designated
"enterprise zones." The 2000 urban white paper committed
the national government to investigating new fiscal instruments,
in particular sales tax reductions for properties in economically
disadvantaged areas and tax credits for cleaning up contaminated
land. The Finance Act 2001 has taken forward this second idea, allowing
companies to offset 150 percent of the cost of remediating contaminated
land against the profits on which they pay corporation tax. In some
cases, this tax allowance can be claimed as a payable tax credit.
Direct Development
The public sector regeneration agencies and local
authorities also carry out direct development projects of the following
kinds:
- "fully worked up" developments
- preparation of "development platforms"
for subsequent development by the private sector
- simple site clearance projects
- provision of roads and other infrastructure on
or near potential redevelopment sites.
Future Challenges
Gaps and obstacles in brownfield redevelopment have
been reviewed extensively in the U.K. by a number of organizations,
including the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and
the Urban Task Force.
Key challenges identified for the U.K. include:
- improving understanding of the social, economic
and environmental factors related to brownfield redevelopment
- quantifying and assessing the contribution made
by brownfield redevelopment to sustainable development
- integrating brownfield considerations into other
aspects of regeneration, such as architecture and social development
- building confidence in brownfield regeneration
(e.g. risk communication methods)
- developing tools to promote good practice in brownfield
redevelopment (e.g. by demonstration of technologies, better integration
of technical approaches with management needs)
- ensuring holistic approaches to managing large
areas of brownfield, especially in dealing with regional groundwater
issues
- maximizing the benefits from brownfield regeneration
(e.g. in terms of recycling and reuse of resources on the sites)
- developing cost-effective methods for assessing
sites for contamination problems
- strengthening the evaluation of contamination
management technologies (e.g. in terms of practicability, long-term
effectiveness and their wider environmental and resource-use impact)
- improving approaches for communicating with and
involving stakeholder groups.
For the future, a major issue is the desire of developers
for a "one-stop shop" approach to licensing and approvals.
Many aspects of the current regulations are already under review,
in particular the licensing of remediation activities and the guidance
issued to planning authorities.
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