The site at Marsh Mills, Plymouth is a prime example of a former China Clay Drying Works, which processed China Clay, quarried from Dartmoor for over a hundred years, until recently ceasing operations and was brought forward for redevelopment. The brownfield site will be redeveloped for up to 550 new homes, community facilities and 11.5 hectares of woodland with proposals to improve the quality of the woodland, which will be used creatively for recreation, habitat improvement and to define the character of the new development.

Information about the land use, local facilities and community centres was gathered within GIS and fed into the Environmental Statement. This information helped to define the study area and identify the requirements of any future development of the site. Interpolations based on the results of the ground investigations helped to build a more detailed picture of the existing ground conditions, including the depth of made ground and groundwater and potential hotspots of contamination. In turn, this helped to determine the extent of remediation works required prior to future development.

GIS was used to determine walking and cycling isochrones from the site. Initial modelling to identify the levels of cut and fill required across the site was done by comparing proposed levels to existing levels within GIS. Preliminary foundation zoning was also undertaken by combining arboriculture survey data with made ground depths and the proposed site layout.