The need to reclaim land

With the increasing demand in the UK for building and living space, a difficult choice has to be made. Around every town and city, there is a green belt. This is meant to be a space that is development free. However, increasing demand has seen this view compromised over and over again. This was made even easier by David Cameron’s Conservative Government when he brought in legislation that made building on areas such as sites of scientific interest and natural areas. The usual excuse is that, regrettably, there is no alternative to building on more green land.

Image credit

However, this is not the case. There is a considerable amount of land that can be used; the only problem is that it also comes with numerous issues. Brownfield sites are where the land has been used previously. Sadly, this was not for the cleanest of uses. When Britain had an extensive primary and secondary industry, vast swathes of land were devoted to mining, manufacturing and heavy industries. As a result, the land was contaminated.

Image credit

A Contaminated Land Remediation company like soilfix.co.uk/ can be called in to clear any issues that may have occurred. Whilst time can be a factor, really contaminated sites can take a while to clear. However, this is why it’s not more common; the cost and time taken are wrongly viewed as prohibitive. For the planet’s sake, we may have to decide what’s truly important to us in terms of development.