About National Land Use Database of Previously-Developed Land

On this web site you will find information about the two projects which go under the NLUD banner, and results on previously developed (brownfield) land.

Historically there have been two NLUD projects:

• Full NLUD*: The development of a comprehensive and up to date land use map based on OS Mastermap^®. *Also known as NLUD Baseline, at present there are no plans to implement this database.
  
  
• NLUD-Previously Developed Land (PDL): Collects data on vacant and derelict sites and other previously developed land and buildings that may be available for redevelopment in England. This is a continuing project.

Objective of NLUD-PDL

To provide a consistent, comprehensive, and up to date record of all previously developed land and buildings in England that may be available for development, whether vacant, derelict, or still in productive use.

Background

The policy document "Planning for the Communities for the Future" (DETR, Feb 1998) announced the Government's intention of bringing previously developed land back into productive use, particularly in the context of residential development, and to implement a method of providing a database of land and buildings that may be available for redevelopment.

This was re-emphasised in Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 (DETR, March 2000) which states that 60% of all new homes should be provided through the redevelopment of previously developed land and conversions by 2008.

A specification was devised to provide a consistent approach to data collection and resulted in the initial survey in 1998. From 2001 the survey has become an annual event with data being collected from the local planning authorities of England as at 31 March each year. The results of each survey will normally be published around August of the following year and can be viewed from the results pages.

85% of all the local planning authorities, including National Parks, provided information in 2005. Apart from one authority, the remaining local authorities had provided information for 2004 or, in a few cases, for 2003 or 2002, so that there is relatively up to date information for almost 100% of all local authorities.

The project is run jointly by English Partnerships and Communities and Local Government.

Improving NLUD-PDL data collection

The NLUD Partnership is committed to continue working with local authorities to develop ways of simplifying and improving the process of NLUD-PDL data collection. They include:

• Providing the option of thresholds to exclude small sites from returns made to EP;

• Providing an improved Data Entry Management Tool (DEMT) that is easier to use. The new DEMTv6.4 was distributed to local authorities in spring 2005;

• In the longer term, integrating NLUD-PDL data provision with local authority land use monitoring systems to eliminate the need for double keying.

The Partnership is participating in the PARSOL (Planning and Regulatory Systems Online) project under the local e-government programme. The monitoring 'products' developed this far can be viewed on the PARSOL web-site at www.parsol.gov.uk

Full National Land Use Database

Objective of Full NLUD

The objective was to establish a complete, consistent and detailed geographical record of land use in Great Britain. This project was also known as NLUD-Baseline.

Background and scope

Ordnance Survey and Communities and Local Government have completed a series of research projects which involved the creation of data sets with a complete land use classification in both urban and rural areas. Options investigated for deriving land use attributes from a variety of sources included:

• Feature codes and text association from Ordnance Survey digital mapping
• Communities and Local Government Land Use Change Statistics
• Aerial photography
• Satellite data
• Address based data
• Third party public sector data sets

Current status

Initial research on attaching land use attributes to OS MasterMap ® using existing information showed that significant levels of coverage and accuracy could be achieved.

The report on a trial in South Yorkshire is published as Full National Land Use Database: County Demonstrator on the Communities and Local Government website. A copy is available from the Key Documents page on this website.

Land Use Classification

A revised Land Use and Land Cover classification, known as NLUD version 4.4 was published in February 2006. The classification builds on previous land use classifications, addressing their shortcomings and considers current policy priorities. The publication is available for download in Adobe Acrobat format.

At present there are no plans to implement Full NLUD. A simplified version, the Generalised Land USe Database (GLUD) has, however, been created. It employs some of the methodology developed for Full NLUD but has only 9 land use categories. These are mainly of land cover, except that residential buildings are shown seperately from other buildings.

Information is on: http://www.communities.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?id=1146084