PLANNING AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Nuleaf Seminar– Radioactive Waste Management

Mark Plummer, Minerals and Waste Planning, Department for Communities and Local

Government

The context: Planning and Sustainable Growth

• The growth imperative and planning reform

• Waste Planning

- where now? Where next?

Context: The Government’s Priorities

• Top priority - restore the health of the national economy

• Two core parts of the Strategy

– Get to grips with the deficit

– Get behind Britain’s businesses, remove the barriers to growth, unlock the potential, and support the job creation we need

• It is vital that the right environment exists to allow local businesses to thrive where ever they are.

The Planning Contribution

Growth...Growth....Growth.....?

• Positive planning in favour of sustainable development• Greater democratic and local control• Greater simplicity and effectiveness

Delivering through…• The Localism Act• The National Planning Policy Framework• Deregulation and simplification• Promoting effective planning • Unblocking growth

NPPF and Guidance Review

Presumption in favour of

sustainable development

Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Localism Act

Strong protections still in place

Unblocking stalled sites

Tackling LA poor

performance

Neighbourhood Planning

Regional Strategy

revocation

Robust Evidence of

need and 5 year land supply

Duty to cooperate

SimpleLocal Sustainable

Proportionate Effective

Planning reform: on a slide!

Deregulation and

Simplification

Information requirements

Speeding up appeals

Award of costs

Permitted development

rights

6000 page s of guidance down

to a few hundred

1300 pages of policy down to less than 50

Major InfrastructureSection

106

Use Class Order

Statutory consulteesCommunity

Infrastructure Levy

Key points

• Strategic Planning:

– New delivery vehicle - abolition of regional strategies; Duty to Co-operate;

– National Planning Policy Framework

• Local planning:

– Reforms reinforce local plans as the cornerstone of the planning system

– National Planning Policy Framework

• Simplification and deregulation:

- Initiatives to streamline and improve the planning process.

Waste Planning

• Detailed waste policies remain in Planning Policy Statement 10

• DCLG started to review – based on NPPF principles

• No major changes anticipated, other than reflect existing EU and national legislation

• Needs to be consistent with National Waste

Management Plan

National Waste Management Plan

• Needed to deliver requirements of Article 28 of the EU Waste Framework Directive.

• Subject to Strategic Environmental Assessment

• A  high level document that covers all areas of waste policy that compliment each other. These will be supported by hyper links to the full policy documents where the detail will be available.

• It is being written using existing policies and will not introduce any new waste policies

Key questions/points for waste planning?

• What wastes are covered?

• Strategic Planning

On whom does onus lie?

Extent of co-operation

Data capture

• Waste hierarchy

• Role of guidance?

Next steps

• Complete SEA process

• Consultation in late spring/early summer

• (Possible) workshops

• Updated Waste Management Plan and Planning

Policy by end of 2013

Duty to Cooperate

A key element of strategic planning:

Requires local planning authorities and public bodies to engage constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis in relation to planning of sustainable development

Applies to planning for strategic matters in relation to:• the preparation of Local and Marine Plans, and• other activities that prepare the way for these activities

Intended to promote a culture change and spirit of partnership working on strategic cross boundary issues

What issues to cooperate on?

• Homes and jobs needed in an area• Infrastructure, including for transport, minerals, waste

management, telecoms, water supply/quality• Health, security, community infrastructure• Climate change mitigation and adaptation• Conservation/enhancement of the natural & historic

environment, including landscape

NPPF states that councils should set out strategic priorities to deliver:……

Duty to Cooperate: Compliance

Legal test• Councils required to demonstrate how they have complied with the duty at the independent examination

Policy test• As part of soundness testing a plan should be deliverable…and based on effective joint working on cross boundary strategic priorities

Reporting on duty

• Local Planning Regulations 2012 require councils to report progress

against the duty in their AMRs

Duty to Cooperate: an opportunity

This is an opportunity to take the initiative early to:

•get the evidence right (and spread the cost) •reach agreements with partners on joint working approaches

•explore the scope for jointly adopted policies and other strategies Actions like these will help councils demonstrate at examinations that they have met the legal requirements

Evidence of effective joint working on cross boundary strategic priorities is also a key element of the soundness of local plans

Current Position

•Since it came into force on 15 November 2011 38 local plans have been tested for compliance with the Duty at examination. This legal test precedes testing for the soundness of local plans.

• Of the Local Plans examined so far:

– 36 have passed the legal test and the Inspector has gone on to test the soundness of the Plan

– 2 did not pass the legal test and the Plans have been withdrawn (North London Waste Plan and Coventry Core Strategy)

PLANNING AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Nuleaf Seminar– Radioactive Waste Management

Mark Plummer, Minerals and Waste Planning, Department for Communities and Local

Government