Brownfield Register

What is the Brownfield Register? Brownfield site is referring to previously developed land that has the potential for being redeveloped. In the UK, it is often (but not necessarily) land that has previously been used for industrial and commercial purposes and it has been left derelict and possibly contaminated.Brownfield lands have the potential of developing at least one million homes, with more than two-thirds of them deliverable within the following five years. Consequently, the Government has passed on a legal requirement for Councils to prepare and publish a Brownfield Register. The purpose of his register is to publicise up-to-date information with regards to brownfield land that is appropriate for residential development. In order to determine if a site has potential to be registered as a brownfield land, it must comply with the following criteria:

• It must be available for urban development

• Suitable for residential development, in accordance with policies in the adopted Local Plan and the NPPF and free from adverse impacts on the natural environment, habitats or built heritage that cannot be mitigated

• It must be at least 0.25 hectares in size
• It has to support the development of five or more dwellings
• Feasible for development within 5 years

Brownfield lands do not include:

• Land currently occupied by agricultural or forestry buildings
• Certain minerals and waste disposal sites where restoration plans are in place
• Land in built-up areas such as private residential gardens, parks, recreation grounds and allotments
• Land where the previous development has blended into the landscape.

Following the publishing of the Brownfield Register, the Government has found sites for more than 400,000 homes that have yet not come forward for planning permission, as more than a third of these sites are registered as publicly owned land. Moreover, the analysis found that 17,656 sites identified by planning authorities (covering more than 28,000 hectares of land) would provide enough land for a minimum of 1,052,124 homes. This figure is predicted to rise to more than 1.1 million once all registers are published, according to the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).The CPRE said that as public authority developments should give a significant opportunity to provide affordable homes, this presents scope for homes built on brownfield land to help towards local need. The Brownfield Register is formed of two parts:Part 1 – will be comprised of all sites that have been developed previously and are at least 0.25 hectares or more in size and have the potential to accommodate the development of at least 5 dwellings, whether or not they currently have planning permission. The majority of these sites were submitted by landowners or their agents as part of the Strategic Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment call for sites exercise which took place for a period of 12 weeks between 28th July 2017 and 20th October 2017.Please note: Entry onto Part 1 of the register does not guarantee that this site will progress onto Part 2 of the register or receive planning permission.Part 2 – allows to select sites from Part 1 and grant Permission in Principle (PIP) for housing-led development, after undertaking necessary requirements for publicity, notification and consultation.  On overall, the Brownfield Lands have only been entered on Part 1 of the register only and none have been included in Part 2 yet. Decisions are to follow in the due course whether to enter any sites on Part 2 of the register in the subsequent years.