Central to our business is the availability of land. Increasingly, planning policy favours the use of brownfield sites, particularly in urban areas.  Here there is a greater potential to affect neighbouring communities through the building process. Accordingly, we appreciate the need for balance in creating new and vibrant communities and preserving the natural environment where development occurs.

We have developed specific capabilities in remediating and developing brownfield sites and exceed Government targets in this area. Major reclamation projects have involved redundant hospitals, disused airfields, power stations and rubber and lead works. We can point to a track record of success in creating value in challenging areas that exhibit characteristics of economic decline.

These brownfield, often redundant sites pose a number of development challenges, not least the remediation that is often required following the industrial legacy that is left behind once the business has closed.

Currently 79% of the homes we build are on brownfield land, significantly exceeding the present Government target of 60%. Bellway has an excellent track record of environmental stewardship. The majority of the land we use has had a former use and we test all large sites (over 0.5 hectares) with either an Environmental Impact Assessment or a Sustainability Audit, so as to understand the characteristics and opportunities of each new development. The preparation of these documents, in parallel with project design, provides a useful framework within which environmental considerations and design development can interact and allows us to understand the site and its surroundings, helping to identify appropriate methods of remediation as necessary.

For the planning authorities and other public bodies with environmental responsibilities, these statements provide a strong basis for decision making.