Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: CABERNET Network Report

5.2Environmental aspects of planning• Successful urban land management requires integrated consideration ofthe spatial, subsurface and time components within the planning anddevelopment control process. CABERNET encourages the reuse of oldbuildings and the recycling and reduction of waste produced duringdemolition, soil remediation, construction and changes in infrastructure• CABERNET believes that the subsurface presents both an opportunity forsustainable urban regeneration and a constraint as a resource that should bereused and can be impacted by previous exploitationEnvironmental tools for Preparation and Regeneration of brownfields• CABERNET endorses the risk based land management approach but warnsthat poor risk assessments and inconsistent regulatory approaches threatenthis approach thereby increasing redevelopment costs and their ecologicalfootprint for little benefit• CABERNET believes that Brownfield regeneration projects can profit fromknowledge exchange and harmonised approaches to environmental assets,risks and impacts e.g. using Due Diligence and Impact Assessmentprocedures and toolsCABERNET Position:Environmental aspects are not always given a balanced consideration e.g.contamination issues can be over emphasised in brownfield regeneration.CABERNET believes that environmental issues can catalyse brownfieldregeneration raising environmental, social and economic benefits whentargeted at sustainability in a balanced and integrated approach. However,a simplistic sectorial regulatory approach hinders regeneration.68