Introduction
Welcome to the second in a series of newsletters to keep you up to date with progress on the North London Waste Plan (NLWP). The NLWP will set out the planning framework for waste management in the London boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest for the next 15 years. It will identify sites for waste management use and set out policies for determining waste planning applications.
Timetable
The timetable has been revised to accommodate additional evidence gathering work. We will be consulting on the Draft Plan in May – June 2015. The revised timetable is as follows:
Launch consultation April to June 2013
Consultation on Scoping Report for Sustainability Appraisal June to July 2014
Consultation on draft plan May to June 2015
Consultation on proposed submission plan Feb to March 2016
Submission June 2016
Public hearings September 2016
Inspector’s report January 2017
Adoption May 2017
What we have done
We have prepared a Consultation Protocol setting out our approach to communication during preparation of the NLWP. We have been gathering an evidence base to support the plan. This includes a Data Study on north London waste arisings, existing sites, current capacity, cross-boundary waste movements and projections of future waste arisings under a number of different scenarios. An update to the Data Study has also been completed and this will be made available alongside the Draft Plan. We are continuing to work with authorities to which north London exports waste to ensure that current and future waste movements can be understood and planned for. We will shortly publish a Duty to Co-operate Protocol which sets out a framework for this engagement. A report on the initial stage of co-operation is available on the NLWP website and additional reports will be made available throughout the plan-making process. Earlier in 2014 we held three focus group sessions for key stakeholders to discuss specific topics relating to the production of the NLWP and test emerging approaches. Membership was taken from a broad cross section of stakeholders including statutory bodies, the waste industry, special interest groups and residents groups. We have published a Report of Focus Group Events. The themes that emerged are being taken into account in drafting the NLWP. We issued a ‘Call for Sites’ to landowners, the waste management industry, existing site operators and other organisations asking them to propose sites to be considered for allocation in the NLWP. An assessment of sites submitted has been undertaken and this is being fed in to the development of the NLWP. A report on this process will be issued alongside the Draft Plan.
Sustainability Appraisal
Planning law requires local authorities to demonstrate that their plans are sustainable by undertaking a ‘sustainability appraisal’ (SA). The purpose of the SA is to promote sustainable development through the integration of sustainability considerations into the preparation, adoption and implementation of the NLWP. It involves the identification and evaluation of the social, environmental and economic impacts of the plan. The first stage in the SA process is the production of a ‘Scoping Report for Sustainability Appraisal’ which sets the context and provides baseline information in order to provide a starting point from which to appraise the effects of implementing the NLWP. Consultation on the Scoping Report occurred from June to July 2014. The comments received have been taken into account when finalising the Scoping Report and a revised version will be published shortly at www.nlwp.net.
What we are doing now and planning to do next
We are producing a draft of the NLWP which will be published for consultation in May – June 2015. The revised Scoping Report is being used as the basis of the SA of the draft NLWP and this assessment is ongoing at present. We will publish the results of the assessment in parallel with consultation on the draft NLWP. We are also updating the Data Study that supports the NLWP to take account of new data and the latest information about waste arisings, existing and planned capacity and land requirements. We have reviewed the proposals for new waste sites and areas and are currently evaluating them through the SA process. The proposed sites/areas will be consulted on as part of the plan process.
Contact Us
If you would like to go on our mailing list and receive news and information on the NLWP please contact us: email: feedback@nlwp.net NLWP Programme manager – Archie Onslow tel: 020 7974 5916 Mail: North London Waste Plan, LB Camden Culture & Environment Camden Town Hall, Judd Street, London, WC1H 9JE. Website: www.nlwp.net