Broadland Workshop & Exhibition Recap

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The Beyond Green team spent much of last week in Norwich engaged in a series of public workshops and exhibitions surrounding developments in our Broadland project.  Since the last public exhibitions held in June, our design team has been busy drafting a masterplan for the site, delving deeper into the spatial geography of the area, running ecological and hydrological studies, and looking into how the development could best integrate within the surrounding infrastructure.

On Wednesday the 5th and Friday the 7th of October, we were joined by key stakeholders from over 35 different organisations for a series of workshops exploring key aspects of the project’s development, such as green infrastructure, water, energy and waste management, components of a successful high street and various delivery strategies.  On Saturday and Sunday, we hosted a public exhibition and were joined by 100+ individuals from the immediate community.  Together, these events provided invaluable feedback for determining the next steps for the project.

To those who made it out for the exhibition and workshops, thank you kindly. Your feedback and insights were very much appreciated. If you didn’t get a chance to join us, you can keep up to speed on the project by looking through the exhibition boards (PDF) that were on display at the events.

In the video below, Beyond Green’s Executive Chairman Jonathan Smales briefly discusses the aim of the workshops and the value they bring to the development process as a whole.


Richard Kendall speaks at Imperial College on water neutrality

SuDS Hammarby water feature

Beyond Green Managing Director Richard Kendall recently spoke at an event hosted by Imperial College in London on 21st September.  The theme of the event was water sensitivity in urban developments, with a panel of experts being represented from DEFRA and ICL academics. Richard was the sole representative from the development industry. Prior to a Q&A session, he talked about Beyond Green Developments aspirations to achieve water neutrality (using the same amount of potable water after development had finished across the area) at their Broadlan project in North Norwich.

The key catalysts for achieving this aim were a rainwater harvesting ring following the site’s natural contours which channel water below ground and through over-ground water features, the use of green water (water that is dyed green and delivered through nonstandard pipes) recycling for flushing loos and irrigating green infrastructure, the introduction of water consumption displays and progressive pricing strategies, and a comprehensive network of SuDS (sustainable drainage systems) based on existing topographical sub-catchments for surface water drainage.  The Environment Agency has been helpful in terms of supporting Beyond Green’s ambition as the planning process evolves.  We hope for continued support as we turn these ambitious ideas into reality.