A pilot programme aimed at solving England’s legacy of long-term derelict land has been launched in twelve local authority areas.

The initiative is being jointly led by national regeneration agency, English Partnerships and the ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) as part of a wider national strategy that aims to bring England’s 66,000 ha (164,000 acres) of brownfield land back into beneficial use.

Research carried out by English Partnerships has identified more than 2,000 long-term or ‘hardcore’ sites nationally that have lain vacant or derelict since at least 1993. The majority are in the north of England and have an average size in excess of 8 ha (20 acres). These sites, totalling around 17,000 ha (42,000 acres), have failed to be regenerated because of a series of problems that include contamination, market failure, cost and planning difficulties.

A further 4,500 sites, with a total area in excess of 8,500 ha (21,000 acres), are suffering from medium-term dereliction, having been vacant or derelict for at least five years. Although largely concentrated in the northern regions, there are also significant concentrations of these sites in the South East.

Launching the pilot programme, Keith Hill, minister of state for housing and planning said, "This is the ultimate recycling policy – recycling land will help protect the countryside and enhance its quality rather than creating urban sprawl. It is a cornerstone of our plans to deliver sustainable communities and will provide, for the first time, a coherent vision for the future development of brownfield land."

The twelve pilot areas are Easington, Barrow-in-Furness, Manchester, Sheffield, Mansfield, Dudley, Milton Keynes, Ipswich, Tower Hamlets, Barking & Dagenham, Bristol and Kerrier (Cornwall). As a result of the programme it is hoped that at least one hardcore site in each area will be developed either for commercial or recreational use, with funding being acquired through private sector investment.

A short-list of long and medium-term derelict sites will be identified in each area and practical studies undertaken to assess the barriers to employment or housing development or to returning the land to recreational or natural use. In each case work will be led by a ‘local brownfield partnership’, that will include representatives from English Partnerships, the local authority, RDAs (Regional Development Agencies), development industry, local business and community groups.

The twelve pilots were selected because they provided a mix of urban and rural examples with a varied history and reasons for dereliction. They also include authorities with different urban initiatives already in place such as URCs, enterprise zones, housing market renewal pathfinders or are within a growth area.

"We have a very good idea about how land has become derelict and why it is not being re-used," said Strategy director, Professor Paul Syms, "but the pilot programme will actually tease out the real practicalities of bringing these long-term, hardcore sites, back into beneficial use. While there will be common themes, the spread of pilot areas means that we will be able to assess the impact of local influences and come up with solutions to a wide variety of development barriers."

Although English Partnerships has some funding available for the pilots, a key objective of the programme will be to gauge the level and type of public sector intervention that may be required to deal with the large-scale problem.

As well as determining development barriers and solutions, the pilot projects will also help reveal which local brownfield partnership model(s) operate most effectively and generate input from local communities most successfully.

Work will be begin in each pilot area over the next two months and the findings fed into the National Brownfield Strategy document that is expected to be published in early 2006. A series of regional workshops are scheduled to begin this week aimed at engaging development and regeneration professionals from both the private and public sectors in reviewing the problems of brownfield land and in contributing practical help in the pilot areas.