27 September 2009:
Australia needs to re-develop its old industrial sites, not only
for their real estate value, but also so we can have more
sustainable, healthier and well-planned cities.
Redeveloping ‘brownfield’ areas – like the
Melbourne Docklands and Sydney’s Homebush Bay and Rhodes
Peninsular – is a cornerstone of sustainable urban
development which makes best use of transport, utilities and other
infrastructure, Niall Johnston of the NSW Department of
Environment, Climate Change and Water will tell the CleanUp 09
conference in Adelaide tomorrow.
“It’s not just about recycling land. It is
also about developing our cities in the most sustainable way, as
regards their use of energy, resources and infrastructure,”
he says.
Mr Johnston said it has been variously estimated that Australia
has between 10,000 and 160,000 potentially contaminated industrial
sites, many of which lie close to the urban heart – and which
now need to be cleaned up and redeveloped.
Fortunately Australia has a mature framework for brownfields
redevelopment in place nationwide, underpinned by legislation in
every state and territory. NSW led with specific legislation in
1997, he says.
“Australia is also fortunate in having a mature
remediation industry supported by a robust, structured framework
for the assessment of site contamination via the National
Environmental Protection Measure (NEPM) 1999,” he adds.
This legislative framework, combined with a much more
transparent approach to engaging the community, places Australia in
the world forefront in contamination clean-up of brownfield sites
when compared with other countries, Mr Johnston argues.
“We certainly have the technical ability to clean up an
old industrial site so it is safe to use for residential or other
development – but there has to be more than just technical
proof: the community has to be comfortable with the idea of living
on a formerly contaminated site.”
This, Mr Johnston says, can only be achieved by both
environmental managers and polluters being open and transparent
with the community, engaging them from the outset and explaining
how the clean-up is to be achieved and how it has been carried
out.
“The NEPM talks about community consultation during
assessment and in NSW we regularly insist on the polluter engaging
with the community through out the process from investigation
through to redevelopment. This, we find, leads to a much
better outcome, which the community is far more willing to
accept.”
How many brownfield sites remain to be cleaned up is uncertain,
but Queensland has estimated it has about 4000. These sites are
handled differently in different states, according to local
regulation.
Brownfields tend to be concentrated in areas long associated
with heavy industry such as petrochemical refining, chemical
manufacture, application and manufacture of pesticides, coal
gasification, mineral processing, and ordinance manufacture as well
more unusual activities such as radium refining.
“The main impediments to brownfield development are
perceptions regarding blight and the high cost of remediation
compared to “greenfield” sites. However if broader
environmental costing is taken into account then the viability of
brownfield redevelopment becomes more attractive,” he
says.
Niall Johnson will deliver his paper at 8.50AM on
September 28, 2009.
The CleanUp 09 conference is being hosted by the CRC for
Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment at the
Hilton Hotel, Adelaide from September 28-30.
More information:
Niall Johnston, NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and
Water, 0417 038 341
Peter Martin, CRC CARE communication, ph 08 8302 3933 or 0429 779
228
Peter.martin@crccare.com
Conference number: 08 8217 2000 and ask for CleanUp 09
