North London Waste Plan: The Empire Strikes Back

Preparation of local plan for waste in North London

"The London Boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest are proposing to prepare a new local plan for waste in their boroughs to take the place of the non-adopted North London Waste Plan (NLWP). This is the start of the process to prepare the new Plan and the boroughs are inviting you to make representations about what it should contain.

"After the boroughs had submitted the previous waste plan for examination, the Planning Inspector decided that it failed to meet the Duty to Co-operate and the boroughs have therefore agreed to start again as is required by law. When the boroughs submitted the NLWP, they believed it to be 'sound' – that is, in accordance with the relevant tests. 

"The Inspector halted the examination and never went on to consider issues of soundness at the examination. The boroughs therefore consider that the information generated through the preparation of the submission NLWP is a useful starting point from which to develop the new plan. 

"Representations made throughout the preparation of the NLWP will also help inform the work on the new plan. All previous stages of the NLWP are still available to view at www.nlwp.net.

"Evidence will be reviewed and updated and account taken of changing circumstances as the plan evolves. The boroughs propose to re-consider information on the amount of waste requiring management in North London and the extent to which it can be managed by the current facilities as well as to identify specific new sites which have potential for waste facilities to manage any shortfall in provision.

"The plan is intended to provide a framework for planning decisions relating to waste facilities and so will contain policies to be used when the boroughs assess planning applications for such facilities.
"We are inviting you to make representations on any matter relating to the new local plan for waste. Your comments are particularly invited on the following matters:

1. The content of the local waste plan: Please let us know what you think the new local plan should contain. Do you think any content was missing from the submission NLWP?
2. The need for new waste facilities: Do you have views on the need for waste facilities in North London to deal with the waste likely to be generated in the next ten to fifteen years? If so, what types and size of facility might be needed?
3. The characteristics of a site suitable for waste use: If sites for new waste facilities are required, what type of site should be chosen? What criteria should the boroughs use to select waste sites? Do you think that the site criteria and assessment method in the submission NLWP are a useful starting point? Can they be improved upon?
4. Proposals for waste sites: Do you have any new suggestions on sites or areas in North London that might be suitable for future use for waste management?
5. Policies: Do you have any suggestions for planning policies to ensure that waste developments are suitable in terms of location, environmental impact and any other important consideration? Do you think the policies in the NLWP are a useful starting point? Can they be improved upon?

"To respond, please visit the ‘Have Your Say’ section of the NLWP website and use the special link. Or you can send your comments to feedback@nlwp.net. If possible please return your comments in MS-Word format. If necessary your comments can be posted to:

Archie Onslow

North London Waste Plan

Camden Town Hall

Argyle Street WC1H 8EQ

"Please send your comments by 7 June 2013. Comments received after that date may be fed into later revisions of the waste plan."

Meetings with interested groups

"If you belong to a group and would like to meet staff to discuss these or any other points about the new local plan for waste in North London please get in touch (see details below)."

What happens next?

"The boroughs will use these initial comments to help draw up a draft new waste local plan that they expect to produce in 2014. There will be further consultation at this stage and subsequent opportunities to give comments on the new plan."

Contact details

feedback@nlwp.net

For more information phone 020 7974 5916

Further clarification was sought from the NLWP...

"Is the NLWP totally abandoning all findings that it used about 'new' sites in the last NLWP plan, including their scoring and the methodology behind the scoring? (That does not, of course, stop you from reconsidering the same sites, among perhaps many others.)

"It is true the Inspector did not rule on the credibility of your site examinations last time, but that is only because he threw out the plan higher up his agenda. If any aspect of the previous data is to be reused (other than perhaps the sites' physical locations), what data is that, please?"

And the NLWP replied...

"The boroughs are proposing to use the same overall approach to planning for waste in the new plan, but all elements of that approach will be reconsidered. As a result, no part of the old plan will be moved straight into the new plan without reassessment.

"As we said (above) the boroughs are reviewing and updating the data, to assess the waste management requirement in north London. We received a lot of comments on the criteria used, so we will be:

• reconsidering the list of criteria,
• how we measure the criteria, and
• how any use of the criteria will be scored.

"Depending on the waste management requirement, we may well be assembling a new list of sites. Some of the old ones may need to drop out because they have been developed. Others, new to the NLWP, may be nominated or become available.

"This approach is partly reflected in the preliminary questions we are asking people at this stage of the process. Question 2 (above) relates to waste data and need; Question 3 asks about criteria, and Question 4 asks about sites. We are also inviting representations on any matter relating to the new local plan for waste."