Brownfield Land Register

The Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017 require us to prepare and maintain a register of previously developed (brownfield) land that is suitable for residential development. The register is publicly available to help provide certainty for developers and communities and encourage investment. 

The definition of brownfield land can be found in Annex 2 of the National Planning Policy Framework under ‘previously developed land’. 

The Brownfield Land Register for Westmorland and Furness planning authority area (which excludes the National Parks) is published under the Open Government License and is available below: 

Westmorland and Furness Council Brownfield Land Register 2023/24 (CSV 1 page / 37KB)

Brownfield Land Registers may consist of two parts:

• Part 1 is mandatory and comprises all brownfield sites appropriate for residential development, including sites with and without planning permission or permission in principle
• Part 2 is currently optional and comprises those sites from Part 1 where the local planning authority has decided to grant planning permission in principle for residential development subject to requirements set out in the Regulations

How we prepared the Brownfield Land Register

We have prepared the Brownfield Land Register in accordance with relevant government legislation, planning practice guidance and the Government's Data Standard. 

The Regulations state that sites must meet all of the following criteria to be included on the register: 

• the land has an area of at least 0.25 hectares or is capable of supporting at least 5 dwellings 
• the land is suitable for residential development
• the land is available for residential development 
• residential development of the land is achievable

In addition to these criteria, the government's guidance states that local authorities should also have regard to their development plan, national policies and advice, and any guidance issues by the Secretary of State in preparing their registers.

We have sourced sites for the register from a number of sources including:

• brownfield sites with planning permission (or expired permission)
• brownfield sites allocated in the Local Plan
• brownfield sites in the council's most recent Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment
• brownfield sites identified by officers

The suitability, availability and achievability of the sites for residential development was assessed based on the definitions of these terms in the Regulations. This assessment was based on available information on potential site constraints and impacts, known ownership information and developers’ intentions, and a judgement on the timescale in which sites could reasonably be developed. 

Further information

More detailed information on brownfield land registers is provided below:

Brownfield land registers - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Brownfield registers and permission in principle: frequently asked questions - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

Brownfield land registers data standard - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

The Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017 (legislation.gov.uk) 

The Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017 (legislation.gov.uk) 

The data provided in the Brownfield Land Register is provided under the Open Government Licence.