In January 2025, the National Brownfield Forum (NBF) set up a task and finish group to gather evidence on the policies affecting the planning and development of brownfield land. The research is summarised in a new report (), supported by BGS, which is aimed at Government ministers, policymakers and senior business leaders interested in the growth and investment missions for brownfield-led housing and infrastructure.

The NBF is an active group of over 30 public and private members, originally set up in 2011 by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). The forum focuses on knowledge sharing around the sustainable re-use of land.

The NBF is administered by the charity as secretariat and a two-year rolling chair.

This project was a great example of how both the public and private sector can work collaboratively together for the benefit of the brownfield industry.

Nicola Harries, technical director at CL:AIRE.

The report findings demonstrate the need to improve how environmental and planning policies in England interact to support the planning and development of brownfield land. The evidence collected suggests that this will increase the amount of brownfield land that is being successfully re-used for housing and infrastructure.

The NBF research demonstrates a shared and strong commitment to the sustainable development of brownfield land and support for an active policy landscape.

Dr Darren Beriro, current NBF chair and principal geoscientist at BGS.

51ÁÔÆæ supported the work using its National Capability funding. The report published by CL:AIRE on behalf of the NBF, is now available to download, as are the .

Quantity surveyors and civil engineers have until the end of July to take part in a survey that will help to improve the accuracy of indicative cost estimates for UK brownfield sites.

The 51ÁÔÆæ (BGS) is inviting as many participants from the industry as possible to take part in an that will inform research designed to improve understanding of indicative cost estimates for a range of foundation types, low-rise residential housing and engineered risk-mitigation measures.

These risks relate to potential property damage from natural and anthropogenic hazards on brownfield land, including:

• shrink–swell clays
• compressible soils
• hazardous gases
• collapse of near-surface cavities

The survey will close on 31 July 2021 and, as a thank you for taking part, BGS will randomly select ten people who complete the survey to receive a free BGS 1:50 000 geological map of their choice.

The research will build on the award-winning digital screening tool, the (BGR_calc). 

BGR_calc was co-created by BGS with Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Gateshead Council to de-risk housing delivery on brownfield land.  BGS is now working with Groundsure to enhance BGR_calc functionality and widen coverage across the whole of England. The results of the survey will feed into this work.

‘By taking part, quantity surveyors and civil engineers will help us improve the accuracy of indicative cost estimates for a range of foundation types and engineered risk mitigation measures, which can inform early-stage planning.

‘Even if you can only answer of few of the questions with confidence, we would very much value your feedback. All responses will be treated confidentially and anonymously. If you would like a summary of our findings or would be willing to contribute further to our research, there is an opportunity to leave further details with us.’

Dr Darren Beriro, BGS’s brownfield specialist.

51ÁÔÆæ has won an award for its development of the , an innovative digital planning tool designed to assess the ground risk and cost of developing UK brownfield sites.

The BGS landed the top prize for Best Scientific/Technical/Digital Advance at this year Brownfield Awards, at a special online ceremony on Thursday.

The awards are dedicated to recognising best practice, innovation and excellence across the brownfield, regeneration and contaminated land industry and are judged by leaders in the field.

The Brownfield Ground Risk Calculator involved over three years of careful development by experts at the BGS in collaboration with partners Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Gateshead Council. The project has also received support from the Environment Agency and The Coal Authority.

Judges rewarded the impressive tool for its use of digital innovation and applauded BGS for its engagement with stakeholders.

Kate Royse, Chief Digital Officer at BGS said:

“This award demonstrates the impact of successful interdisciplinary working across organisations but most importantly, the value of co-designing digital geoscience. It fantastic news for science, and industry, both for BGS and our stakeholders.

“We’ve learned a lot working with Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Gateshead Council and their respective partner organisations, and we will continue to develop the tool in future.�

The UK is experiencing a huge demand for housing growth coupled with a shortage of supply. Brownfield sites present a sustainable solution by making use of existing developed land. 

Understanding and communicating the scale of risk and cost associated with ground conditions is essential for planners, developers and local authorities before brownfield sites can be developed. 

The Brownfield Ground Risk Calculator shows the scale at which potential brownfield sites are expected to be affected by soil or groundwater contamination. It also evaluates geotechnical hazards, such as land stability and ground gases which can affect building design, and estimates the costs required to mitigate the risks.

The calculator uses over thirty publicly available environmental datasets published by BGS, the Environment Agency and The Coal Authority. Using the data, it produces a ‘ground risk score’ and remediation cost estimate for each site and presents it in a geographical information system (GIS).

David Hodcroft, Infrastructure Lead, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, said:

“The BGR calculator has led valuable insights into the use of subsurface information and the application of new ground risk models to address real-world challenges faced by Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

“We have utilised outputs from the calculator to inform viability assessments across Greater Manchester helping us to determine the likely cost ranges to remediate individual sites. The project has developed a strong working relationship between BGS and GMCA and we are looking forward to future collaborations.�

51ÁÔÆæ geoscientist Darren Beriro is a specialist in brownfield sites who led the digital development.

He said: “When developing post-industrial brownfield land, historic contamination often needs to be remediated to ensure the land will be safe, often at a significant cost to the developer or land owner.

“A closer look at brownfield sites in central Manchester for example, shows that some land is likely to be more expensive per hectare to remediate than others.

“We know that decisions made early in the planning process can impact the viability of building new homes and such decisions are likely to have increasing importance given the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on local authorities and the housing sector.

“Our aim is to now make the calculator more widely available to support public bodies, developers and land owners in making informed decisions, early on.�

New research will explore microorganisms with the potential to breakdown hazardous chemicals in the environment.

The 51ÁÔÆæ (BGS) will take part in a novel £70 000 research programme to support the clean up of brownfield sites using natural biological processes, in partnership with Arcadis, a leading global design and consultancy organisation for natural and built assets.

The research will be used to understand and evaluate how microorganisms naturally present in contaminated soil and groundwater can be used to bioremediate the chemical 1,4-dioxane, an emerging contaminant that is increasingly detected in groundwater and recognised as a potential risk to human health and the environment around the world.

The project is being funded by the Environmental Biotechnology Network (EBNet), with a contribution from Arcadis, and is expected to take around twelve months to complete.

We need to better understand the wide range of legacy chemicals present in post-industrial brownfield land. Many of these emerging contaminants have either previously not been looked for or detected, but they are hazardous to people and to the environment.

The more we understand them, the better we can make decisions about how to remove them from post-industrial land to make sites safe and suitable for redevelopment.

51ÁÔÆæ microbiologist Simon Gregory.

Reported health problems from short-term exposure to 1,4-dioxane include breathing problems, vertigo, drowsiness, headaches and skin irritation. Long-term exposure can lead to kidney and liver damage, and can even be fatal. 

Due to its high solubility and low degradability under some conditions, 1,4-dioxane can be a challenge to remove from soil and groundwater. However, it is known that it can be degraded by soil microorganisms possessing some types of monooxygenase enzymes, a family of enzymes that can help to breakdown a wide range of chemicals including many organic pollutants.

Dr Monica Heintz, a geoscientist at Arcadis specialising in natural attenuation and bioremediation, said: ‘While biodegradation of 1,4-dioxane has been demonstrated, the microorganisms responsible for this process remain under-characterised. This research will increase our understanding of microorganisms responsible for 1,4-dioxane biodegradation and will lead to genetic surveys that can be used to assess biodegradation of 1,4-Ddoxane at sites around the world.’

51ÁÔÆæ and Arcadis will gather information using a range of DNA-based techniques to quantify and explore the diversity of organisms that produce monooxygenase enzymes in contaminated sites and understand which enzymes are most effective at biodegradation.  

This approach to characterising natural attenuation mechanisms will allow confidence in the ability of microorganisms to detoxify 1,4-dioxane and provide a sustainable, cost-effective management solution for brownfield stakeholders.

Dr Ian Ross, Senior Technical Director at Arcadis UK.

A new digital planning tool is helping authorities to estimate the ground risk and cost of developing brownfield sites in Greater Manchester.

The Brownfields Ground Risk Calculator is designed to understand and communicate the scale of risk and cost associated with brownfield ground conditions.

It shows the scale at which potential brownfield sites are expected to be affected by soil or groundwater contamination.

It also evaluates geotechnical hazards, such as land stability and ground gases which can affect building design, and estimates the costs required to mitigate the risks.

The calculator has been developed by scientists at the 51ÁÔÆæ (BGS) in collaboration with partners Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Gateshead Council and the Environment Agency.

The tool supports a range of uses and the Environment Agency will use the calculator to contribute to its understanding of the scale of regulatory effort required for land contamination risk management by its staff, over the next five years.

51ÁÔÆæ geoscientist, Dr Darren Beriro, says the tool has potential to help other local authorities in the UK to meet housing targets and protect green spaces more efficiently.

He said: “When developing post-industrial brownfield land, historic contamination often needs to be remediated to ensure the land will be safe, often at a significant cost to the developer or land owner.

“A closer look at brownfield sites in central Manchester for example, shows that some land is likely to be more expensive per hectare to remediate than others.

“We know that decisions made early in the planning process can affect the viability of building new homes. These are likely to be more critical given the potential impact of COVID-19 and the pandemic on budgets and the housing sector.

“By making the tool more widely available, we can help more public bodies, developers and land owners make informed decisions, early on.�

The calculator works by using over thirty publicly available environmental datasets published by BGS, the Environment Agency and The Coal Authority.

The conditions it considers go beyond those expected for typical developments, and are referred to as ‘abnormal’.

Using the data, it produces a ‘ground risk score’ and remediation cost estimate for each site, and presents it in a geographical information system (GIS).

Greater Manchester Combined Authority is working with the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership to support the ‘Build Back Better’ campaign, an initiative which sets out to build back the economy and create a better opportunity for a strong and successful recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Murray Carr, Director of Land and Property for Greater Manchester Combined Authority, said:

“We have over 4,000 development sites in our existing housing land supply pipeline and a significant majority are on previously developed brownfield land and in sustainable locations. Due to the industrial legacy, there will be sites with contamination challenges.

“Assessing the viability of brownfields sites and likely risk from contamination will support the delivery of new homes across Greater Manchester, our partnership working with Homes England, the development industry and regulators such as the Environment Agency.�

“Our strategy centred on the creation of new homes and regeneration in places such as town centres is more than bricks and mortar. It’s about reducing inequalities, improving the lives of our residents, and post COVID-19 it building upon existing work to help us all to ‘build back better’.â€�

More information about the Brownfields Ground Risk Calculator can be found on the 51ÁÔÆæ website.