Natural England - Green Infrastructure in the North East

Green Infrastructure in the North East

With the announcement of the five New Growth Points in the North East in July 2008, the delivery of quality green spaces and the development of long-term large-scale Green Infrastructure Strategies is about to gain new momentum.

Natural England wants Growth Points to become genuine exemplars of environmentally sustainable development and be built to stringent environmental standards. The aspiration is that all new developments create high quality, locally distinctive, resource efficient places where people want to live and work. This should include the provision of substantial benefits for the natural environment and people together. Green infrastructure is the key to this.

Green Infrastructure Update and other resources

Green Infrastructure update: (1.41mb)pdf document (March 2011 Newsletter)

Online feedback form on GI updateexternal link

Introduction to Green Infrastructure in the North East: (382kb)pdf document

Green Infrastructure best practice signposting: (363kb)pdf document (update February 2012)

Green Infrastructure audit - data sources: (162kb)pdf document (update August 2010)

Exemplary Green Infrastructure projects case stories

St Lawrence Park, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne

Transforming a park with a voluntary community ‘green exercise’ group – new style case study showing environmental and socio-economic benefits: (250kb)pdf document (March 2011)

Development of the Easington Colliery concept statement

Case story: (86kb)pdf document about the development of the concept statement for Easington Colliery.

Concept Statements

Concept Statements are a clear expression of the kind of place that development should be creating, not in technical terms but in simple, everyday language that anyone can understand. The first concept statement in the North East was developed for the former colliery site at Easington Colliery.

Concept statements - Delivering sustainable development: (2.03mb)pdf document – hands-on guide

Development of the Easington Colliery concept statement

Full report: (667kb)pdf document

Full report without annexes: (154kb)pdf document

Final concept statement: (4.58mb)pdf document

Presentation by Richard Silson, Planning Cooperative, stakeholder event 29 March: (2mb)pdf document

Presentation by David Siddle, Durham County Council, from final event 20 July: (354kb)pdf document

Presentation by Richard Silson, Planning Cooperative, from final event 20 July: (640kb)pdf document

North East Green Infrastructure Conference – Developing the Green Potential (13 October 2009)

60 delegates met for a day conference to explore steps and share experience to date in developing Green Infrastructure strategies at the local level. The conference presentations and transcript of workshops are available below for download.

If you attended the conference, but have not yet been able to give feedback, please do so by using the online feedback formexternal link.

Green Exercise and Planning workshop (10 June 2009)

Ingo Schüder, Green Infrastructure Delivery Leader, presentation: (821kb)pdf document

Chris Myers, Durham County Council, presentation: (194kb)pdf document

Audit of Access and Greenspaces for the Durham Magnesian Limestone Plateau

a) This report results from a project commissioned by the Limestone Landscapes Partnership. It was mainly about the collation and cleansing of access and greenspace GIS datasets. It includes a large number of datasets such as the PPG 17 greenspace audit data from the relevant local authorities. It also carried out a simplified and very pragmatic approach to Natural England’s Accessible Natural Greenspace Standards (ANGSt) including maps showing current (lack of) provision of the 5 elements of the ANGSt standard.

Presentations from 12 September 2008

Cara Courage,
Natural England,
Landscape and Access Senior Specialist: Green infrastructure and the New Growth Points: (250kb)pdf document

Nick Dales,
Natural England,
Team Leader Evidence & Strategy: A Natural England perspective of Green Infrastructure: (249kb)pdf document

Richard Hall,
Natural England,
Regional Policy Senior Specialist: Green Infrastructure, Regional Policy and Spatial Planning: (823kb)pdf document

Malcolm Steele,
Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit: Planning for Green Infrastructure in the Tees Valley City Region: (1.23mb)pdf document

Lee Dudley,
Forestry Commission: Newlands - In Retrospect a Green Infrastructure Project?: (2.07mb)pdf document

James Adamson,
Sustrans,
Area Manager North East: Sustrans - Green Infrastructure Pioneers: (266kb)pdf document

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