Draft Regulation 18 Sandwell Local Plan
Waste Sites
13.29 Policy SWA2 relates to the protection of sites identified for or currently in use as waste treatment facilities and seeks to manage the interactions between such sites and surrounding uses.
Policy SWA2 – Waste Sites
Protecting Waste Sites
- Sandwell will safeguard all existing strategic and other waste management facilities from inappropriate development, to maintain existing levels of waste management capacity and meet Strategic Objective 17, unless it can be demonstrated that:
- there is no longer a need for the facility; and
- capacity can be met elsewhere; or
- appropriate compensatory provision is made in appropriate locations elsewhere in the Black Country; or
- the site is required to facilitate the strategic objectives of the Sandwell.
- This policy will also apply to all new waste management sites that are implemented within the lifetime of the plan.
New development near existing waste facilities
- Proposals for housing and other potentially sensitive uses will not be permitted near to or adjacent to an existing waste management site where there is potential for conflict between the uses,
- unless a temporary permission for a waste use has expired, or the waste management use has otherwise ceased, and the site or infrastructure is considered unsuitable for a subsequent waste use;
- or redevelopment of the waste site or loss of waste infrastructure would form part of a strategy or scheme that has wider environmental, social and / or economic benefits that outweigh the retention of the site or infrastructure for the waste use and alternative provision is made for the displaced waste use;
- or a suitable replacement site or infrastructure has otherwise been identified and permitted.
- Waste Site Impact Assessments will be expected to demonstrate that at least one of the above criteria applies. Applications should also identify any 'legacy' issues arising from existing or former waste uses, and how these will be addressed through the design of the development and the construction process.
Justification
Waste Sites
13.30 The existing pattern of waste management infrastructure is illustrated in the Black Country Waste Study, which shows the location of all known waste management facilities in Sandwell.
13.31 They have been identified through a detailed analysis of all known licenced and exempt facilities in each authority area and include waste treatment, waste transfer, waste to energy and landfill facilities.
13.32 The definition of a strategic waste management site is;
- all facilities that form a vital part of Sandwell's municipal waste management infrastructure, e.g., energy from waste plants, waste transfer facilities and HWRCs, depots;
- all commercial waste management facilities that fulfil more than one local role, e.g., they are part of a nationwide or regional operation linked to other facilities elsewhere and take in waste from all over the Black Country and / or beyond;
- all commercial facilities specialising in a particular waste stream or waste management technology, of which there are no others, or very few other of the same type operating elsewhere in Sandwell;
- all facilities likely to make a significant contribution towards existing waste management capacity;
- a site with sufficient capacity to recover, treat or dispose of at least 20,000 tonnes of waste per annum;
- a facility forming part of the UK's network of installations for waste disposal, such as landfill sites;
- a hazardous waste recovery facility of sufficient size to qualify as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP).
Safeguarding Existing and Planned Waste Sites
13.33 Sandwell is expected to see significant housing and employment land growth between now and 2041. However, the need for new housing and employment development has to be balanced against the need to retain the infrastructure needed to support local households, businesses, and the construction industry. This includes the infrastructure that manages the waste they generate. Waste Planning authorities must therefore ensure that the impact of non-waste development on existing and planned waste facilities is acceptable, and "does not prejudice the implementation of the waste hierarchy and/ or the efficient operation of such facilities" (NPPW, para. 8).
13.34 The BCWS therefore recommends a safeguarding policy for existing strategic and other waste sites and preferred industrial areas, identified for the development of new waste infrastructure (BCWS, 5.6.1 – 5.6.5 and 6.2.1). However, it also recognises that the redevelopment of existing or former waste management sites with new housing, employment or other land uses is sometimes justified and the policy reflects this. For example, redevelopment is likely to be acceptable where the waste facility has already closed, or the operator is proposing to close it or relocate the operations to another site.
13.35 Another important material consideration will be whether the waste operations are lawful, i.e., whether they have planning permission or a lawful development certificate. For example, if the waste operations are unauthorised and unsuitable for the location, the Council will normally consider taking enforcement action to stop them.
Potential Losses of Waste Management Capacity
13.36 When determining applications for non-waste development within a short distance or adjacent an existing waste management facility, regard will be had to any potential adverse impacts the proposed development might have on the future of the site as a location for the continuation of waste management activities. If a development is likely to have an unacceptable impact on the future of the site as a location for waste management, it will be refused.
Waste Site Impact Assessments
13.37 Taking on board the BCWS recommendations, the policy requires applications for non-waste development, which could be sensitive to the operation of a waste management site, on or near to an existing or planned waste site to include a Waste Site Impact Assessment. This should:
- identify the waste site potentially affected;
- explain the spatial relationship between the application site and the waste site;
- provide a brief description of the waste site, which should include:
- its operational status and any proposed changes;
- the facility type;
- whether the site is a strategic waste site;
- the types of waste managed;
- the waste operations permitted on the site.
- summarise the main effects of the waste operations
- identify any effects that could be harmful to the health, wellbeing, and amenity of the occupiers of the new development;
- consider how the occupiers of the new development could be affected;
- consider how the waste site could be affected by the development;
- demonstrate how the development complies with the policy and the measures proposed to ensure that the waste site and the proposed development can co-exist without compromising each other.