Making Regeneration Sustainable

Euan Hall

Chief Executive

The Land Restoration Trust

Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration

• Is complex

• Needs a wide range of technical skills

• Must involve the community – business or residential

• Needs to take a broader view than just the site.

Starting point:

“An opportunity plan”

• Puts the site in a geographical context

• Identifies opportunities / problems

• Identifies links with and the needs of the community

e.g. Shirebook, East Midlands

A classic post-industrial landscape

• Town dependent on one industry - Coal mining

• In top 10% of deprived towns in England

• One area/ward in top 2% of deprivation.

• Population 9000

• Site area 120 hectares

“Project” started life as 2 independent projects driven by technical needs

• To the west of the town – 800 new houses on a greenfield site.

• To the east – industrial development on former colliery land(brownfield) to create 2100 new jobs

• Seen principally as an engineering/construction project, but…

Getting the Team Right

Review of the project allowed a new project manager to stand back from technical issues to:

• Put sites into context with the surrounding area

• Assess community needs• Improve links between new and old.• Provide better integration• And above all build a consensus with the

business and residential community

This required a new team to be built

Comprising of :• Engineers• Planners• Environmentalist• Architects• Community Engagement Specialists• And others!

Model Village

Distributor road

New industry

New housing

Sustainable Regeneration is about

• Creating lasting benefits ……

Not…A wonderful award winning piece of architecture.

Completely detested by those forced to live there

Or…A fantastically landscaped site

Completely disconnected from the community

Its about a sustainable future for them….