Issue - meetings

Surrey County Council is the Waste Planning Authority for Surrey. This means we need to create a framework for the delivery of waste management infrastructure to ensure Surrey’s economy remains strong and sustainable.

The current Surrey Waste Plan (SWP) was adopted in 2008 and needs to be replaced. A new Surrey Waste Local Plan (SWLP) 2018 – 2033 will need to go through several stages of public consultation. The first stage of formal consultation is ‘Issues and Options’.

The Issues and Options stage sets out the context for a new SWLP. The Issues and Options Consultation Report includes our draft vision, draft objectives and draft options which consider different approaches the council could take for managing waste in Surrey.

Our vision is for Surrey to be truly sustainable in terms of waste management. This means encouraging communities to take responsibility for the waste they produce and providing facilities in the right locations at the right time. These facilities need to use the best management methods in order to maximise the resource potential of this waste and avoid adverse impacts on communities and the environment.

The consultation will run for 12 weeks from 2 September 2016 until 25 November 2016 to give statutory, non-statutory and public stakeholders a chance to have their say on what should be included in the new SWLP.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board]

RESOLVED:

1.     That Surrey County Council, as the Waste Planning Authority, consults on the Issues and Options Report (as at Annex 1 of the submitted report) as the first stage in preparing a new Surrey Waste Local Plan (SWLP) 2018-2033.

2.     That authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Environment and Infrastructure in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning to agree any amendments to the Issues and Options Report prior to consultation taking place.

Reasons for decisions

It is a statutory requirement for Surrey County Council to have a Waste Local Plan. In addition, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) emphasises that Local Plans should be kept up to date.

The SWP was adopted in 2008 and plans for the management of waste over a 10 year period until 2018. When determining planning applications for waste management the County Council has regard to this plan and for it to remain fit for purpose it is therefore important that it is consistent with current policy, legislation and local context. The SWP 2008 now needs to be reviewed, with the revised plan scheduled to be adopted in 2018.

It is important that the Council engage with communities and organisations on how waste is managed in Surrey and the consultation on Issues and Options provides the first formal opportunity to do this which is consistent with the Councils approach set out in its Local Development Scheme (LDS) and Statement of Community Involvement (SCI).

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning introduced the item by stating that Surrey County Council was the Waste Planning Authority for Surrey and that this meant the Council had to create a framework for the delivery of waste management infrastructure to ensure Surrey’s economy remained strong and sustainable. He explained that this was a legal requirement and that the current Surrey Waste Plan (SWP) was adopted in 2008 and needed to be replaced. He said that a new Surrey Waste Local Plan (SWLP) 2018 – 2033 would need to go through several stages of public consultation and that the consultation on the plan would run for 12 weeks from 2 September to 25 November 2016.

He informed Members that once the consultation had been completed the plan would be produced and brought back to the Cabinet in early 2017.

Members queried the involvement of district and borough councils and were informed that good relationships existed with all authorities and that conversations would take place over the next 18 months to ensure the right approach was taken.

RESOLVED:

1.     That Surrey County Council, as the Waste Planning Authority, consults on the Issues and Options Report (as at Annex 1 of the submitted report) as the first stage in preparing a new Surrey Waste Local Plan (SWLP) 2018-2033.

2.     That authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Environment and Infrastructure in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning to agree any amendments to the Issues and Options Report prior to consultation taking place.

Reasons for decisions

It is a statutory requirement for Surrey County Council to have a Waste Local Plan. In addition, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) emphasises that Local Plans should be kept up to date.

The SWP was adopted in 2008 and plans for the management of waste over a 10 year period until 2018. When determining planning applications for waste management the County Council has regard to this plan and for it to remain fit for purpose it is therefore important that it is consistent with current policy, legislation and local context. The SWP 2008 now needs to be reviewed, with the revised plan scheduled to be adopted in 2018.

It is important that the Council engage with communities and organisations on how waste is managed in Surrey and the consultation on Issues and Options provides the first formal opportunity to do this which is consistent with the Councils approach set out in its Local Development Scheme (LDS) and Statement of Community Involvement (SCI).