Government adopts new policies to develop brownfield sites

The Government has accepted proposals designed to free up vast tracts of brownfield land for development.

The recommendations were put forward by English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency which helps the Government to support sustainable growth in England.

The agency put forward a National Brownfield Strategy for England designed use 52,000 hectares of previously developed, vacant or derelict land to support Government plans to build three million new homes by 2020. It’s hoped that at least 60% of those homes will be on brownfield sites. This is intended to bring a double benefit of protecting greenfield land at the same time as improving the general environment for local communities by clearing up derelict and blighted land.

Communities and Local Government Minister Iain Wright said: “Since 1997, the amount of new development on brownfield land has risen significantly from 60% to 75% - a real achievement. But we want to go further and regenerate the most challenging sites.

"Brownfield land development is not just about building much needed homes, it is also about decontaminating blighted areas, recycling derelict sites and creating open green spaces in urban centres”.

The National Brownfield Strategy identifies nine policy strands that need to be implemented between now and 2013 to make the proposals succeed. These include identifying suitable sites to ensure there is an adequate supply of land when it is needed and putting proper safeguards in place to protect the environment.