1 Introduction.


The County Durham Waste Local Plan.

1.1 The County Durham Waste Local Plan sets out the detailed local planning policies and proposals that will guide future development associated with waste management within County Durham.  It provides the framework for waste planning throughout the County in the period from 2000 to 2016.

Consultation on the Plan.

1.2 The Revised Waste Local Plan was placed on statutory deposit for a six week period from 19 May 2003 to 1 July 2003 to enable representations to be made in support of, or objecting to the changes made to the Plan since the First Deposit Draft.

1.3 The County Council considered all views received within this period before deciding to make pre-inquiry changes to the Plan.  A Public Inquiry into the proposed Waste Local Plan was then held before an independent inspector. This considered unresolved objections to the Plan, and recommended a number of modifications before the County Council adopted the Plan.

Need for a Plan.

1.4 Under the 1991 Planning and Compensation Act, the County Council as Waste Planning Authority (WPA) is required to prepare a local plan for the depositing of refuse or waste materials, normally classified as controlled waste, either separately or jointly with a minerals local plan. The County Durham Minerals Local Plan is now adopted. The adopted Waste Local Plan supersedes the existing Waste Disposal Local Plan which was adopted in 1984.

1.5 The primacy of the development plan in the planning system means that the Waste Local Plan is needed in order to set out the criteria and standards by which development proposals will be considered and to balance the conflict between the need for the facility and protection of the environment. The Waste Local Plan transposes European and National guidance into a county and local context.

Purpose of the Plan.

1.6 The purpose of the Waste Local Plan is to integrate the need to manage waste and the need to protect the environment and quality of life. Since the County Durham Waste Disposal Local Plan was adopted, there have been fundamental changes in policy which recognise that waste minimisation, re-use and recovery are essential in saving primary resources, reducing the amount of waste going to landfill for final disposal and minimising the risk of immediate and future environmental pollution and harm to human health.

1.7 County Durham, like much of the North East region, is a major producer of waste. The disposal of waste can be a contentious issue, as this can cause major disturbance to people’s living conditions and the wider environment. The Waste Local Plan contains detailed policies and, where possible allocations, which will provide the framework by which planning applications for waste management facilities can be assessed. This will give a degree of certainty to residents, the waste industry and other interested parties as to how proposals will be assessed and determined during the period to 2016.

Relationship with Other Plans.

1.8 The Waste Local Plan is a statutory local plan and part of the development plan for County Durham. It has been prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991. Other relevant statutory development plans within the County are:

  • County Durham Structure Plan. This is prepared by the County Council and provides the broad strategic framework for planning in the County, setting out the overall principles for the Waste Local Plan and other local plans. The Structure Plan was adopted in 1999 and runs to 2006;
  • County Durham Minerals Local Plan. This is prepared by the County Council and sets out the detailed local planning policies and proposals that will guide future mineral development within County Durham. The Minerals Local Plan was adopted in 2000 and runs to 2006;
  • District Local Plans. These are prepared by District Councils and provide detailed policies and proposals on a district basis for development other than minerals or waste disposal (housing, industry, open space etc.).
  • Waste Disposal Local Plan (adopted in 1984). The provisions of this Local Plan remained in force only until such time as they were replaced by the Waste Local Plan and appropriate provisions of other plans set out above.

1.9 Taken together these plans provide a comprehensive development plan framework for land use planning within the County. Although the Waste Local Plan is the most detailed plan in relation to waste development, reference may also have to be made to other parts of the Development Plan. The different parts of the Development Plan should be consistent with each other but, in the unlikely event of any conflict, legislation requires that the provisions of the most recently adopted local plan will prevail.

1.10 In preparing the Waste Local Plan the County Council has had regard to the established framework of policy and advice on waste management at the European, national, regional and local level. Government policy and advice on the planning aspects of waste is set out in a number of documents including the Government’s strategy for sustainable waste management and Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPG’s), in particular PPG 10 (Planning and Waste Management), PPG 23 (Planning and Pollution Control), and PPG 12 (Development Plans).

1.11 Regional Planning Guidance for the North East (RPG 1) was issued in November 2002.  Waste is one of the issues to be developed further in the early review of RPG 1.  A Draft Regional Waste Management Strategy is being prepared by consultants.  The finalised Waste Management Strategy for the North East will then be integrated into the Regional Spatial Strategy, the replacement for RPG 1 under the Government’s reform of the planning system.

County Durham Municipal Waste Strategy.

1.12 The Municipal Waste Management Strategy for County Durham (MWMSCD) was adopted jointly in 2001 by the County Council and the seven district councils in County Durham. It addresses the sustainable management of municipal waste that will be generated in the County for the next 20 years. The Strategy is influential in informing the Waste Local Plan, in relation to the management of municipal solid waste and achieving targets for waste recovery and landfill diversion.

Role of Durham County Council.

1.13 A two-tier system of local government operates in County Durham. The responsibilities of the Authorities for the management of wastes are defined in the Environment Protection Act 1990. As the WPA, the County Council has the duty to arrange for the disposal of waste that has been collected, under contract, by the seven District/Borough Councils as Waste Collection Authorities (WCAs). The  County Council also provides Civic Amenity Sites or Household Waste Recycling Centres where the public can deposit household waste items free of charge.

1.14 As the WPA, the County Council is responsible for determining planning applications for development associated with the deposit, treatment, storage, transfer, processing and disposal of waste in County Durham. This Plan addresses the land use implications of the Municipal Waste Management Strategy for County Durham, although as outlined in Section 7 on ‘Information on Waste’, municipal waste forms only around one quarter of all waste arisings in the County.

1.15 The Environment Agency has responsibility for licensing and monitoring the operation of waste management facilities, registering carriers of waste, monitoring the movement of hazardous wastes and producing Strategic Waste Management Assessments.

Sustainability Appraisal.

1.16 The policies and proposals of the Waste Local Plan have been subject to sustainability appraisal during their preparation and revised as necessary. Copies of the Appraisal which were prepared to accompany the First Deposit Draft Waste Local Plan and the Revised Deposit Draft Waste Local Plan are available on request.