News release

The way in which Local Authorities identify and assess land for future redevelopment could be transformed, due to advances in technology and changing information needs, according to a detailed study of the ten year-old National Land Use Database of Previously Developed Land (NLUD-PDL) published today.

Recommendations for the review of NLUD - the register of brownfield sites throughout England and a key part of the National Brownfield Strategy - were commissioned by national regeneration agency English Partnerships and produced by a cross-disciplinary team of researchers at Kingston University. The recommendations from the research  could see NLUD-PDL replaced with a system which would be even more accurate, more comprehensive and easier for Local Authorities to maintain, and  come at a time when the need for accurate identification of  brownfield land is more urgent than ever  to meet ambitious Government housing targets. This includes accommodating 60% of all new homes on brownfield land by 2020. 

Speaking today at the AGI Conference in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Olga McFarland, Senior Researcher at English Partnerships, welcomed the recommendations to English Partnerships and Government, saying: “This review is timely. Since NLUD-PDL was first implemented, technology and policy have moved on faster than anyone could have imagined. As national brownfield advisor for England, English Partnerships is committed to identifying and helping to unlock land for redevelopment and other uses - a key strand of the National Brownfield Strategy. As such, we welcome future improvement to and development of NLUD’s capabilities as part of our strategic toolkit, particularly as we move towards the new Homes and Communities Agency.”

The research looked at the need for brownfield data; possible improvements to NLUD; and the needs of a wider audience for information of this kind. Key recommendations from the researchers include:

• NLUD-PDL site records should be converted from points (single x, y coordinates) to polygons (site boundaries)
• Records to be made more compatible with existing Local Land and Property Gazetteers
• The database should be publicly accessible online and maintained in real time by online updates direct from local planning authorities
• Records on developed  sites should remain on the database to inform future decisions on development and as part of a national archive
• Database structure should be more flexible  to  accommodate future changes in planning policy.

At present, local planning authorities submit annual “NLUD Returns” data on a voluntary basis. The data includes details on land size; site location; previous history of the site; classification ranging  from derelict or vacant sites  to those in-use but with the potential for re-use; and its current planning status. The resulting information is used by Government to:

• Advise Ministers on the formulation of land use polices
• Ascertain trends in the recycling of land
• Help signify where barriers to redevelopment exist
• Monitor the effectiveness of Government policies relating to land use.

Professor Sarah Sayce, Head of School of Surveying & Planning at Kingston University, added: “This is an important piece of research which we are proud to have undertaken. The consistent message that emerged from our Study Team’s research is that that bringing NLUD in line with current technology and other planning and information monitoring processes is the key to its future success. As such, this an ideal opportunity to embrace changes in technology, policy and information needs.”

The recommendations will shortly be submitted and considered by Government for future implementation.

The full report can be viewed from the National Land Use Database page or www.kingston.ac.uk.   

The National Land Use Database of Previously Developed Land (NLUD PDL) database has been in place for almost ten years, and  ultimately aims to “provide a consistent, comprehensive and up to date record of all Previously Developed Land and buildings in England that may be available for development, whether vacant, derelict, or still in productive use” (NLUD Partnership – English Partnerships and CLG).

In the early 1990s, the original objective of Government was a comprehensive database that recorded all land use in Great Britain.  The database was to be known as NLUD Full or NLUD baseline but implementation was judged to be prohibitively expensive given the state of technology at the time.  In order to enable government to monitor emerging policies relating to brownfield land, NLUD was adapted to record only Previously Developed Land and was not designed to link in any way to other local spatial planning data processes.

A survey of local planning authorities was conducted by English Partnerships in 2005, which highlighted both the limitations of the current (Microsoft Access) data entry management tool (DEMT) and the issues around this.  In summary, it was found that a mix of external (e.g. government and/or software limitations) and internal LA pressures, coupled with its voluntary nature, often resulted in a low priority being given to NLUD-PDL returns.  Nevertheless, the level of returns actually achieved has been consistently high (95% in 2007).

In late 2007, Kingston University was commissioned to carry out a scoping study to review the current NLUD-PDL system.  The aims of the study were threefold; (1) to advise English Partnerships  and Communities and Local Government (CLG) on ways to improve and further develop NLUD-PDL, (2) to evaluate the data collection process, and (3) to assess ways of simplifying or perhaps even automating the collection of data by embracing the raft of new technology now available to local planning authorities – including advancements in the field of GIS. 

Recommendations for the first National Brownfield Strategy for England put forward by English Partnerships were formally accepted by Government at English Partnerships’ National Brownfield Conference in March 2008. A total of nine policy strands will be implemented across four parallel strands between now and 2013:

• Strand One – Policies to identify, assess and prepare brownfield land for re-use to ensure an adequate supply of land when it is needed
• Strand Two – Policies to safeguard the environment by ensuring the effective and efficient re-use of land
• Strand Three – Policies to enhance communities and contribute to sustainability by removing blight and ensuring the long-term management of restored land
• Strand Four – Policies to address a shortage of skills in dealing with brownfield land by meeting the need for appropriately qualified and experienced practitioners.

English Partnerships is the national regeneration agency helping the Government to support high quality sustainable growth in England by creating well-served mixed communities where people enjoy living and working. In collaboration with the Housing Corporation, the Academy for Sustainable Communities and Communities and Local Government we are establishing the new Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) that will begin operating in 2009. 

Kingston University: With four campuses and more than 20,000 students, Kingston University is the largest provider of higher education in South West London, offering an extensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes both in the United Kingdom and overseas. The University is renowned for teaching excellence, has established itself as a growing force in research and is widely respected as a pioneer in e-learning. In its most recent University league table, The Sunday Times praised Kingston’s record for teaching quality for positioning it “in the vanguard of the modern university sector” and making the University “a match for many older institutions”.

The research was undertaken by a team of researchers at Kingston University and was led by Professor Sarah Sayce (Head of School of Surveying & Planning) together with Professor Nigel Walford, School of Geography, Geology & the Environment. Dr. Peter Garside of the Centre for Economic Research and Intelligence (CERI) and Researcher Tony Vickers.  Dr. Alun Jones of The GeoInformation Group was also part of the Study Team.