Land Take and Soil Sealing: An overview of the EU situation

Transcription

1 Land Take and Soil Sealing: An overview of the EU situation Soil remediation and soil sealing conference Brussels, May 10 and , organised by DG ENV, European Commission 1

2 Background In April 2012 the European Commission publishes Soil Sealing Guidelines SWD(2012)final Guidelines on best practice to limit, mitigate or compensate soil sealing The document is based on the work of an EU expert working group, i.e. representatives of relevant stakeholder groups, experts from the Member States..and on a survey on the State of the Art, which was published in May 2011 Overview of best practices for limiting soil sealing or mitigating its effects in EU

3 Terminology & Effects Extent of sealing in EU27 Principle of the new guidelines to reduce soil sealing Best practice examples 3

4 Terminology & Effects 4

5 Terminology settlement area / artificial surface buildings, gardens, infrastructure (streets) industry, recreational areas etc. land take increase of settlement area over time sealed surfaces 40 60% of artificial surfaces are actually sealed 5

6 Major effects of soil sealing Loss of fertile soils for future generations Soil sealing is an almost irreversible process Loss of water retention areas Increase in surface water runoff and flood risk Landscape fragmentation and loss of biodiversity Increasing land take leads to unsustainable living patterns with increasing traffic & air emissions and higher infrastructure costs for the municipalities Changes of microclimate Sealed surfaces have higher surface temperatures than green surfaces 6

7 The extent of soil sealing and land take in EU27 7

8 Sealing at the regional level (NUTS3) percentage of sealing EEA soil sealing layer,

9 Land take (NUTS3) CORINE land cover 2000, 2006 increase in artificial surface 9

10 Principle of the new guidelines to reduce soil sealing 10

11 Recommendations: Limit Mitigate - Compensate Tier 1: Limitation of Soil Sealing. Policy, monitoring, realistic land take targets Streamline existing funding policies accordingly Steer new developments to already developed land Provide financial incentives for inner urban development improve the quality of life in large urban centres Make small city centres more attractive Protect agricultural soils and valuable landscapes Tier 2: Mitigating Soil Sealing as far as possible Respect soil quality along planning processes Apply technical mitigation measures to conserve at least a few soil functions (i.e. permeable surfaces on parking areas) Regional flexibility is needed!! population density, demography, development forecasts etc. Tier 3: Compensate soil losses Establishing qualified compensation measures Facilitate new alternative land uses 11

12 Best practice examples 12

13 Best Practice Policy targets Quantitative limits for annual land take exist in 6 Member States Austria & Germany limits are defined in hectare per day for a target year Belgium (Flanders), Luxembourg, the Netherlands limits are based on inner urban development; i.e. 60% of new developments within defined inner urban boundaries the United Kingdom (England) limits are based on brownfield redevelopment; i.e. new housing on already developed land 13

14 Best Practice Brownfield Redevelopment Objective: avoid new land take by reusing already developed land for new infrastructure projects How: Brownfield organisations co-ordinate initial or supportive funding to encourage new infrastructure developments on brown-field sites Examples CZ & PL: Czech Invest and Invest in Silesia are in charge of developing major industrial brownfields for new industrial investors (focus on industrial investors). FR: France disposes of a network of more than 20 public land development agencies (Etablissement Public Foncier ), which among other activities develop brownfield land for social housing. UK: The Homes and Communities Agency (formerly English Partnerships) provides funding for social housing developments on derelict areas. BE/Fl: Brownfield covenants are negotiated between the government and private investors to promote brownfield redevelopment.

15 Best Practice Financial support for strategic land development Objective: realisation of sustainable land development projects; i.e. acquisition of land for strategic development projects, remediation of run down areas and the establishment of green urban areas. Belgium /Flanders: The local governments submit their proposals to the spatial planning department of the Flemish government, where they are ranked for approval. (2010 budget: 2.1 million euro) renewal of the sourroundings of a railway station (Kortrijk) 15

16 Germany (Baden Württemberg): 13 model villages committed themselves to avoid new developments on green field sites. Available funding per municipality mio. Euro. focus on inner urban development potentials ; empty and underused buildings and sites, innovative conversion identification and visualisation of underused and derelict sites in village centres in many cases planned settlement enlargements were obsolete. 16

17 Best Practice Improvement of quality of life in large urban centers Objective: to counteract suburbanisation and attract new residents How: Realisation of strategic urban renewal projects Examples (large urban renewal projects) Portugal / Porto & Lisbon: Several urban renewal programmes with support of the EU structural funds (public private partnerships) The Morro Sé renwal project in Porto

18 Best Practice Sweden / Malmö Västra Hamnen sustainable district on derelict harbour premises, 1,000 new dwellings in the city centre, with lowest impact on natural resources The Netherlands: Randstad Programme improving the attractiveness of inner urban areas in the metropolitan agglomeration of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Den Haag. Spain / Catalunia Programme for Urban Areas with Special Needs (Programa de barris I àrees urbanes d atenció), cofinancing by ERDF 115 renewal projects at a total volume of 170 million Euro

19 Best Practice Permeable surfaces (mitigation measures) Objective: Contribution to local water drainage capacity. Landscaping functions. Examples Benefits lower discharges to local sewage water system, contribution to the formation of natural groundwater, increased water evaporation improvement of the micro climate use of regional material - in some cases also recycling material (i.e. compost, building rubble) vegetation layers are possible visual improvement.

20 Best Practice Green tramway tracks Tramway, Mulhouse (FR) Large parking areas Football stadium Salzburg (AT) Expo 2000, Hannover (DE)

21 Best Practice Driveways Ealing (UK) Sustainable Urban Drainage Various examples (UK)

22 Best Practice Compensation of soil loss Objective: protection of best agricultural land, to steer new infrastructure developments to areas with less valuable soils, to establish a soil protection funds Examples Compensation payments for agricultural soils (Slowakia) Conversion of protected agricultural land to building land requires a fee, depending on the quality of the affected soil, ranging from 6 15 Euros per m² 21 % of the Slovakian are subject to a compensation fee. Soil Compensation Account (Dresden - Germany) Objective: Long term planning target built-up land for settlements and traffic shall be confined to 40% of the total urban land. New developments on undeveloped land require adequate desealing measures or greening measures somewhere else but within the city boundaries (exemption: inner urban developments). On average 4 ha urban derelict land are desealed

23 Conclusions Key observations All Member States are at least regionally affected by increasing soil sealing and land take Inefficient land use (underused areas and derelict buildings) is widespread Only very few Member States have strict (and effective) policies to limit land take and soil sealing Different solutions for rural areas and metropolitan areas are needed Clear need to decouple economic growth from land take and sealing Key barrier Member States refrain from applying stricter regulations to protect their soils from sealing as this could represent a market disadvantage Expectations to EU Soil Sealing Guidelines....

24 Contact & Information Gundula Prokop gundula.prokop@umweltbundesamt.at Umweltbundesamt (Environment Agency Austria) Soil remediation and soil sealing conference Brussels May 10 and organised by DG ENV, European Commission 24