Beam Parklands in Dagenham has been recognised as the country’s top Brownfield site with a prestigious Brownfield Briefing award for the ‘Best Use of Landfill Or Brownfield Land’ in October 2011.

The judges at the Brownfield Briefing Awards recognised that the benefits delivered by Beam Parklands show clearly that the best use of Brownfield land does not necessarily mean development. What makes this wetland park special is that its primary function is as a flood defence and as such the land protects 570 residential properties, two primary schools, three social clubs and 63 industrial and commercial properties on its doorstep and downstream. However when it’s not flooded, which is the vast majority of the year, it is now a multifunctional open space that the community can use and where nature can thrive.

The Brownfield Briefing Awards have become the flagship event for the brownfield community, and is one of the highest industry accolades that a company can receive. The annual awards recognise technical and conceptual excellence in projects that have been underway over the past 12 months.

The awards are judged by an expert panel from numerous specialities, and new categories are added each year to reflect trends and developments in the industry.

The historic Pleasley Pit was awarded an English Heritage Angel Award in November 2011, highlighting the Derbyshire site as the finest restored industrial building in the country.

The awards, which were launched and part funded by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber are probably the country’s most important heritage prize, they celebrate the work of individuals and groups who have saved a significant historic place that was at risk of being lost forever.

The award is deserved recognition for The Pleasley Pit Trust, who have worked tirelessly for over fifteen years on the restoration of the former colliery.

The Countess of Chester Country Park was honoured with a Chester Civic Trust award for benefiting the built environment.

The Chester Civic Trust selected the public park as a benefactor of the Civic Trust’s awards scheme recognising changes to the built environment during the past 12 months.

Northumberlandia was named the Best Park/Community Area at Northumberland’s What’s on Where Awards 2015.

The awards scheme, organised by Johnston Press North East newspaper group, is a celebration of Northumberland’s leisure and tourism.

A Site of Biological Importance (or SBI) is one of the non-statutory designations used locally by the Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Staffordshire County Councils in England to protect locally valued sites of biological diversity which are described generally as Local Wildlife Sites by the UK Government.

A section of Silverdale Country Park in Newcastle-Under-Lyme has been designated as a Site of Biological Importance (SBI).

The popular community venue, owned by open space management charity the Land Trust and managed by Groundwork West Midlands, was created on the former Silverdale Colliery as part of a restoration project funded by the Homes and Communities Agency.

Since being opened to the public, the site has provided a home for skylarks in spring time, a place for newts to flourish in the park’s pond and somewhere nationally scarce solitary bees and wasps have been sighted.