Part One: Spatial Strategy and Policies (Regulation 18)

Preferred Areas for New Waste Facilities

17.26 The identification and delivery of new waste management facilities will contribute towards meeting new capacity requirements set out in Policy DLP75 and will help meet the strategic objectives of the Plan.

Justification

17.27 The NPPW requires Waste Management Authorities to identify suitable sites or areas for waste management in Local Plans. Several specific locations have been identified in the Black Country Waste Study (2020) where new waste management facilities could be located.              

17.28 In accordance with the NPPW when deciding which areas should be allocated waste planning authorities should assess their suitability against a range of criteria;

1. the extent to which the site or area will support the other policies set out in the NPPW;
2. physical and environmental constraints on development, including existing and proposed neighbouring land uses;
3. the capacity of the existing and potential transport infrastructure to support the sustainable movement of waste and products arising from resource recovery, seeking when practicable and beneficial to use modes other than road transport, and;
4. the cumulative impact of existing and proposed waste disposal facilities on the well-being of local community, including any significant adverse impacts on environmental quality, social cohesion and inclusion or economic potential.              

17.29 The NPPW advises that when identifying suitable sites and areas for waste, waste planning authorities should consider opportunities for on-site management of waste where it arises. This has been addressed in Policy DLP75 part 2b.

17.30 The NPPW also recommends looking at a broad range of locations for the development of new waste infrastructure, including industrial sites (particularly where there are opportunities to co-locate waste management facilities together). Priority should be given to the re-use of previously developed land, sites allocated for employment use and redundant agricultural buildings).

Identification of Preferred Sites

17.31 It is not proposed to allocate specific sites for waste in the Plan because no new sites likely to be deliverable within the Plan period have been identified, apart from sites that already have planning permission. To have sufficient confidence to allocate a site, it would need to be actively promoted for waste management use by a waste planning authority, a landowner, or a commercial waste operator.

Identification of Preferred Areas

17.32 A number of employment areas have been identified in the Black Country Waste Study (2020) as being most suited to the development of new waste recovery, treatment, and transfer infrastructure. These sites were identified through a five-stage screening process followed by an assessment of employment locations and selected sites promoted through the 'call for sites' which fell outside of the excluded areas (Black Country Waste Study, Chapter 5).

17.33 The results of the assessments are presented in Appendix M of the Black Country Waste Study and are summarised in Table 5.10 of the main report. These areas are considered least likely to give rise to land use conflicts, and in several cases, there is already co-location of existing waste facilities to which new sites would contribute. There is only one such area in Dudley Borough, and this is identified on the Waste Key Diagram and Policies Map and in Policy DLP77 (Bloomfield Road/Budden Road, Coseley).

17.34 The policy allows for the provision of new waste facilities at other appropriate locations other than the Preferred Area at Bloomfield Road/Budden Road, with reference to Policy DLP78.

Evidence

• Black Country Waste Study (2020), Wood
• Black Country Employment Area Review (BEAR) (2020), Black Country Local Authorities
• Authority Monitoring Report

Delivery

• Planning applications and permissions