Many waste, resource recovery and agri-industry processing facilities are being adapted to provide an increasing range of products and services including bioenergy, recycled water and bio-based fertilisers and soil conditioners.

Buffer lands surrounding these facilities provide opportunities for locating a range of synergistic land uses that can provide multiple benefits to businesses and surrounding communities. We refer to the optimisation of land use in this way as ‘Buffertopia’. In effect buffers can be treated as ‘Resource Recovery Precincts’, ‘Renewable Resource Precincts’ or ‘Circular Economy Precincts’. Taking a precinct planning approach to buffers can provide facilities with a number of benefits including:

• Long term resource, investment, operational and regulatory security.

• Optimised use of land, water and other resources.

• Achievement of numerous business objectives including Net and Negative Zero.

Achieving Buffertopia requires a strategic and planned approach which entails using land, water and other resources in a way that maximises their potential while minimising negative environmental and socio-economic impacts.

Our services in relation to ‘buffertopia’ and strategic resource precinct planning include:

• Visioning and conceptualisation.

• Business case development.

• Analysis of opportunities, risks, strengths and weaknesses (SWOT).

• Evaluation of potential synergistic land uses.

• Scenario evaluation.

• Strategy and planning.

• Policy development.

Check out one version of Buffertopia below.