Blog and Social Media
GECL supervise remedial work at Mayfield, Manchester.
Friday 4th November. Between February 2021 and September 2022, GECL provided Site Supervisor services to remediate and develop Mayfield, a former industrial site into a new public park in the centre of Manchester. This NEC4 project involved opening up and improving the River Medlock which had been in concealed and built over and cleaning up contaminated land in a highly sensitive setting.
Mayfield will create opportunities for more than 10,000 office, retail, leisure jobs, in addition to over 630 FTE construction jobs, up to 2,500 supply chain roles and 25 apprenticeships annually. Over the next decade the project is forecast to deliver over £7.4bn of GVA to the local economy.
Mayfield 1
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Mayfield 3
Mayfield 4
On the winning team at the Brownfield Awards 2022
30th October 2022. It was great to be on the winning team at the Brownfield Awards 2022. GECL contributed to technical guidance: CL:AIRE Good Practice for Risk Assessment for Coal Mine Gas Emissions. The entry won best research innovation or advancement of science for our technical guidance.
The judges said: It provides pragmatic and clear guidance that will support risk assessors completing mine gas risk assessments and regulators reviewing them. It not only signposts existing information but crucially, gives guidance on what the information can tell you about gas risk. It gives risk assessors the confidence to screen out low risk sites quickly and ensure that high risk sites have appropriate investigation, assessment and mitigation.
The technical guidance can be downloaded here: CL:AIRE Good Practice for Risk Assessment for Coal Mine Gas Emissions
Award winner photo
Guidance link
Link to Winners Guide
Team photo
Announcing QGIS for Geo-Professionals and AGS Toolbox.
Working together, GeoEnvironmental Consulting Ltd and burdGIS have developed the AGS Tools plugin for QGIS. This enables users to import AGS4 data directly into QGIS before using the in-built functionality of QGIS to process and interpret the data.
This course aims to provide an overview of the use of QGIS within the fields of contaminated land, engineering geology and geotechnical engineering. It also introduces the AGS Tools processing plugin and provides examples of how its use can streamline the processing and interpretation workflows for geo-professionals.
Join our experienced trainers, Oliver Burdekin a renowned QGIS specialist and Richard Meredith a chartered geologist and specialist in land condition as they share valuable insights and demonstrate real-world applications of the use of QGIS and the new plugin.
Course Schedule: A series of 6 weekly seminars running from 21st September to 26th October 2023.
Register here and learn more: link to course registration on Eventbrite
#QGIS #geology #GIStraining #geospatial #geotechnicalengineering #AGS4 #AGSTools
GECL complete remediation and enabling works of former asphalt works, Salford.
Tuesday 18th August. Working with remediation contractor Chartrange Ltd and main contractor Morgan Sindall, GECL have completed remediation and earthworks at a former asphalt works in Salford, Greater Manchester. The proposed development will comprise two 23-storey residential towers linked via a five-storey bridging structure, with associated external areas. This challenging city centre site had a history of industrial uses, including asphalt production and a motor works. GECL's involvement enabled Chartrange to execute and validate the remediation contract on time and complete the enabling works so piling could commence ahead of schedule.
Save the Date - 19th March 2020
SAVE THE DATE - GECL will be speaking at the next Yorkshire and Humberside Constructing Excellence (YHCE) event which will be held on Thursday 19th March 2020 at St George’s Centre in Leeds.
The seminar will discuss the technical background to a £12M dispute over a social housing development and discuss what makes a great expert witness from a lawyer’s perspective.
The seminar will be led by Richard Meredith who is a Director of GECL & Anjon Mallik, a partner at Gordons Solicitors.
Please contact us if you or your colleagues would like to attend.
All GeoEnvironmental Consulting Reports to be NQMS quality marked.
Wednesday 11th December. From today, all GECL reports produced for the planning system will be prepared in line with the National Quality Mark Scheme (NQMS) for Land Contamination Management and will bear the NQMS logo. The NQMS scheme was introduced as a voluntary scheme in 2017 to ensure that the standard of contaminated land reporting meets the requirements of the Town and Country Planning Act and Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act.
The scheme is designed to deliver contaminated land projects ‘right first time, saving clients time and money, ensuring planning submissions do not require substantial regulatory scrutiny, and providing added confidence that the work has been done to an appropriately high standard.’
The scheme has gained support from:
The Environment Agency (EA). In their document titled: The Environment Agency’s approach to groundwater protection[1] (February 2018), the EA state that ‘Where NQMS submissions conclude that pollution is being prevented or managed satisfactorily the Environment Agency will take the view that no further regulatory intervention or enforcement is necessary.’
Government in England. In their guidance on land affected by contamination[2] (updated June 2019) the Government confirms that site investigation information should be prepared by a competent person and identifies the NQMS as accrediting competent people via the scheme.
Many Local Authorities. Over 30 Local Authorities[3] are referencing the NQMS scheme on their websites and in their guidance to developers. Typically, local authorities highlight NQMS as an exemplar of professional competence that developers should consider when appointing consultants.
One of the reasons the scheme has gained trust amongst regulators is that it recognises Suitably Qualified Persons (SQPs) as highly qualified and experienced practitioners who are held to a high standard by their Professional Body via a code of ethics and professional conduct. This means there is a credible threat of sanctions against malpractice.
The NQMS declaration is an outward sign that reports have been prepared or overseen by a Suitably Qualified Person (SQP). Going forward, all the reports GECL prepare which are intended for the planning system will bear the National Quality Mark Scheme (NQMS) logo and GECL Clients will benefit from the increased quality, better programme and planning certainty promoted by the scheme.
[1] Link to The Environment Agency’s approach to groundwater protection here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/692989/Envirnment-Agency-approach-to-groundwater-protection.pdf[2] Link to UK Government Guidance on Land Affected by Contamination. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/land-affected-by-contamination [3] Link to CLAIRE map Local Authorities Referencing NQMS: https://www.claire.co.uk/projects-and-initiatives/local-authorities-map
GECL Speak at the Yorkshire Contaminated Land Forum.
Thursday 28th November. GECL were delighted to speak at the Yorkshire Contaminated Land Forum (YCLF) Christmas Case Studies Meeting. Held at the Carriageworks, Millenium Square Leeds, our presentation was on the Gorebridge gas incident. Using only information in the public domain we discussed several key themes including the adequacy of conceptual site models, the extent to which hazardous risk assessments ought to be predictive of future events and some of the difficulties of dealing with a ground gas problem post-development. For more information on the presentation and the technical issues around ground gas, please contact us.
The YCLF is a fantastic forum for contaminated land professionals and it is now in its 13th Year. The evening was rounded off with very enjoyable drinks and networking in the bar. Thanks to YCLF for organising such a great event and it was fantastic to see so many familiar faces there!
Today we Support Children in Need
Today 15/11/2019, we got dressed up in full costume and went out onto the streets with the Round Table collecting money for Children in Need. It's a fantastic cause and I've done it for years. Children in Need started over 50 years ago and by 2018 had raised over £1 billion to support children and young people across the UK.