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DEVELOPMENT PLANS AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
18. Development plan preparation takes place within the context of a range of factors including sustainable development. This helps to ensure that policies and land allocations for waste management developments are properly considered against other potential options. To secure a structured approach to sustainable development, SEA is used in development planning and the Best Practicable Environmental Option is used for Area Waste Plans although Area Waste Plan reviews will be subject to SEA. The social and economic dimensions of sustainable development, equally important to developing an integrated network of waste installations, should also be reflected in development plans.
19. SPP1: The Planning System refers to Area Waste Plans as examples of material considerations. As Area Waste Plans are not land use documents, it is important that development plans provide for the spatial dimension of the 2013 Area Waste Plan capacity requirements shown by the National Planning Framework. Infrastructure identified in Area Waste Plan reviews will also require to be accommodated by development plans in line with the principle that the need is already established as set out in row 6 of the Table at the end of this SPP. Additionally, the locational dimension of infrastructure over and above Area Waste Plan requirements should be recognised in development plans.
20. Under the present two-tier development planning system, structure plans should consider general proposals for the development and use of land for waste management installations and local plans should define the precise locations and factors against which applications will be determined. Not all development plans have provided an adequate policy framework for waste management. Accordingly, Scottish Ministers wish to ensure that across Scotland, current and future development plans are consistent with the need to record improvements in the annual EU reporting programme described in row 1 of the Table. Local plans should meet the statutory requirements of the Waste Framework Directive where the report Local Plans: Meeting Area Waste Plan Objectives indicates that there is a need.
21. The Planning Bill proposes that, in future, local development plans will establish both the general proposals and detailed locations for the development of land, except in the four city regions, where strategic development plans will contain a vision statement and set out general proposals. Therefore, outside the main city regions, local development plans will be the vehicle to reflect waste infrastructure capacity requirements with the statutory development plan. In the city regions, waste policies will be set in context in the strategic development plans to reflect the fact that the city regions generate the largest volumes of waste. Planning authorities should refer to the Development Planning sections on Need, Areas of Search and Site Assessment in PAN 63 which still apply, with the following additional updates.
NEED
22. Area Waste Plans supported by their Best Practicable Environmental Option assessments, set out the capacities to be identified as future requirements in local plans, together with their justification. Additionally, planning authorities should when preparing plans or if faced with development proposals, refer to quarterly local authority returns on composting and recycling and SEPA's annual Waste Data Digest. 9 These provide background for local plan policy-making and information on progress towards meeting statutory and Executive targets. SEPA are also taking steps to improve data collection on non-municipal waste. Potential duplication of installations across planning authority boundaries should be resolved by strategic outline cases as described in the footnote 10 and Table row 8 in the annex). SEPA's work on other waste streams replaces the need for planning authorities to do further needs assessments and as statutory consultees SEPA can advise on this issue. It will be inappropriate for a local plan to require no waste management infrastructure.
AREAS OF SEARCH AND SITE ASSESSMENT
23. PAN 63 explained that identifying areas of search in structure plans and sites in local plans provides certainty but could be difficult to do without for example, environmental impact assessment. This is no longer the case as the SEA regime applies to plan-making. Through SEA, PAN 63 paragraph 21 provides authorities with a means of identifying sites.
24. Planning authorities should refer to Planning for Waste Management Facilities; circulated to all planning authorities in March 2005 which provides more detailed and up-to-date information on types of waste management facilities than the Site Assessment section of PAN 63. The significant land-use factors common to most waste management facilities are either operational impact or those associated with transport. However depending on the installation, noise, water resources, visual intrusion and the natural or historic environment may be sensitivities that need to be taken into account in local plans. Land stability is a further factor in considering landfill. Landfill gas plants and leachate plants cause comparatively few planning problems.
25. The broadest scope for a wide range of waste management installations will be provided by appropriately located industrial sites and land allocations, which should be identified by appropriate policies. Other sites may be capable of only a more limited range of installations where external factors apply more constraints. Planning authorities are required to advertise receipt of applications for waste water treatment works in the local press. Odour control may only be a planning issue during operational failure and in addition many new or improved facilities will have to be located on the coast where there are likely to be sensitive siting and design issues. Some but not all waste water treatment works will bear significant similarities to leachate treatment plants; the environmental impacts of which are described in Planning for Waste Management Facilities. The study also covers recycling centres described as small scale facilities. A Planning Advice Note on water and drainage is in preparation.
26. Planning authorities should make long term provision in development plans for the safeguarding of potential landfill sites, focusing on opportunities for restoration, brownfield, contaminated or despoiled land, having regard to Area Waste Plan revisions and the National Waste Plan. Composting is a typical 'front-end' operation co-located at many landfill sites. In principle, the co-location of waste management installations offering upstream collection and sorting and downstream distribution or manufacturing may also be suitable for larger sites in the industrial portfolio. Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise should be consulted as appropriate during the preparation of development plans to ensure that the waste policy and operational requirements of the business sector and consideration of land holdings and employment strategies are reflected fully.
27. The National Waste Plan proposed that the Executive would work with planning authorities and SEPA to identify model policies. Since then, research carried out into model policies, 11Planning for Waste Management Facilities and practice in Wales have indicated that, broadly, employment and more specifically, industrial land will provide appropriate locations in development plans for waste management proposals excluding landfill and in some cases, large scale outdoor composting. The wording of the model policy will be finalised in light of consultation responses. Inclusion in an SPP enhances the status of the model policy, helping to achieve greater consistency and reduce unnecessary effort by local authorities in preparing development plan policies. Planning authorities are encouraged to integrate the model policy into development plans at the next available opportunity. This SPP supports the following approach for adoption in development plans.
MODEL POLICY
28. Allocations for waste management installations are appropriate generally on the existing or planned supply of employment and industrial land and specifically on:
- Class 5 General Industrial land (where additional protection can be provided by Pollution Prevention and Control ( PPC) and through more stringent controls over noise, vibration and hazardous substances);
and in the case of waste transfer stations;
- Class 6 Storage or Distribution land (where the distinction with Class 5 is on the basis of a higher level of lorry or van movements).
Circular 1/1998 explains The Town And Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1997 and the scope for interchangeability between Classes and in addition,
- Class 4 Business land (which includes industry which is not in Class 5) for uses which in all respects could be carried out in a 'residential area'; (the term used as an indicator for a standard of environmental quality which is sensitive to a wide range of emissions).
29. Allocations for co-located installations may be more appropriate on Class 5 or 6 land if the elements with the potential for the greatest impact would not be appropriate on Class 4 land. Comments from consultees are invited on this model policy.
30. Greenfield sites promoted in development plans may provide locational advantages, for example accessibility to transport networks, overcoming potential community disturbance, or where economies of scale justify such locations.
31. Planning authorities should also have regard in their development plans and indicative forestry strategies to the potential implications of using sewage sludge in existing forests and in areas of new planting.
SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING GUIDANCE ( SPG)
32. Criteria for siting mini-recycling sites or the design and integration of waste management facilities in new residential or commercial developments are examples of topics that may be suited to non-statutory SPG provided it is signposted by and supports the statutory development plan. Spatial planning considerations should be set out in development plans and are not appropriate in SPG. Some Waste Strategy Area Groups have published or are reviewing proposals to work with planning authorities on SPG notably on design and waste minimisation. Public consultation on SPG should take place before authorities adopt it for development management purposes.
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