Archived decisions
Minerals and Waste Planning in Hampshire: Annual Report 2003/04
· Summary
1. Introduction
This is the seventh and final Annual Report which meets a commitment in the Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton Minerals and Waste Local Plan to prepare regular monitoring reports on minerals and waste. The new Planning Act requires planning authorities to submit Annual Monitoring Reports to the Secretary of State. The first of these will be completed at the end of 2005 for the year 2004/05.
The format is similar to the sixth Annual Report with emphasis placed on performance targets and actions. It is primarily for the financial year 2003/04 but includes information on minerals and waste development in Hampshire up to the end of January 2005.
The Annual Report concludes that national and local performance targets are only partially being met but actions are continuing to be taken to improve the service to applicants and residents, in spite of increased demands on it.
· Contacts for advice on minerals and waste planning and related matters in Hampshire are listed in Appendix 1.
2. Monitoring and enforcement
Monitoring and enforcement targets are now set out in the Development Control Charter approved in October 2004. These require all active minerals and waste sites to be visited at least four times a year, inactive sites at least once a year and complaints responded to within two days.
The Annual Report identifies that these targets are not being met, in spite of actions taken to improve the frequency, efficiency and effectiveness of monitoring visits, including the appointment of a temporary, part time monitoring officer and the use of a redesigned site inspection report.
The following actions identified in the Action Plan for Service Improvements, approved in October 2003, remain to be taken:
· Action - to instigate a site inspection strategy based on `environmental risk' to improve site inspection recording; and
· Action - to complete installation and commissioning of the new development control system to include enforcement.
· Minerals and waste sites are listed in Appendix 2 and indicated on Maps at the end of the Annual Report.
3. Planning applications and appeals
The target set by government for determining major planning applications, and adopted by Hampshire County Council for minerals and waste applications, requires at least 60% of applications to be determined within 13 weeks. The Annual Report identifies that this target was not quite achieved in 2003/2004, although early indications are that the target is being met in 2004/05.
The advice contained in the Audit Commission's Development Control and Planning, March 2002 and the Planning Officers Society's A Good Practice Note for County Matter Planning Authorities - a drive for Quality, June 2002 was used to undertake a pilot Development Control Service Plan Review and an Action Plan for Service Improvements adopted by the County Council in October 2003. It highlighted the lack of a published service policy or charter for processing planning applications, monitoring or enforcement. The following actions have been taken:
· A Development Control Charter was adopted in October 2004;
· A user satisfaction survey, `piggy-backed' on a statutory Planning Best Value survey was undertaken in 2004,which indicated a 64%, 69% & 91% satisfaction rating with consultees, public and applicants respectively;
· A review of the use of the annual Members' Tour of sites, which concluded that these should focus on the outcomes of planning decisions, was completed in 2005; and
· A new computer-based development control system purchased from Datawright, which went on-line in July 2003, provides an electronic data link for applications from registration, through determination, to implementation and monitoring.
The following actions identified in the Action Plan remain to be taken:
· Action - to complete installation and commissioning of the new Development Control System to include appeals; and
· Action - to review progress on the implementation of the Minerals and Waste Local Plan in future Annual Reports, which will be covered now in the new Annual Monitoring Reports - see above.
· Significant minerals and waste planning applications, including refusals and appeal decisions are listed in Appendix 3.
4. Planning policy
The targets set by Government for minerals and waste planning policy are for an up-to-date Plan adopted in the past five years and the procedures in place for the speedy review of the Plan,
The Annual Report identifies that the Minerals and Waste Local Plan was adopted in December 1998 and so fails to meet the first target from December 2003. However, procedures are in place for the following actions:
· Action - a programme is in place to produce, jointly with Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils, an integrated Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework (HMWDF). The first document of the HMWDF was the Development Scheme submitted to Government in February 2005. The Core Strategy and the Statement of Community Involvement should be submitted to Government in late 2005/early 2006.
· Action - a Material Resources Strategy was launched in September 2003 with the first of a programme of Stakeholder Workshops in December 2003. This was progressed throughout 2003/04 resulting in the launch of a draft document, `More from Less', a stakeholder perspective for resource management, in February 2005. This document, which will have no policy status, is expected to inform the development of the HMWDF as well as the Project Integra review and the ongoing work of the Natural Resources Initiative.
The HMWDF consists of a suite of Development Documents which, taken together, make up the Framework - the Development Scheme; the Statement of Community Involvement, the Core Strategy and the Annual Monitoring Report. The Core Strategy is a particularly important document as it will set out the sustainable development principles and spatial strategy for minerals and waste management infrastructure in Hampshire until 2020. Subsequent development documents will set out what sites are to be developed.
· Minerals and waste development and current related planning policies and proposals are listed in Appendix 4.
5. Meeting the need for minerals
The national planning policy framework for minerals is provided by Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) and Mineral Planning Guidance (MPG) being superseded in due course by Planning Policy Statements (PPSs) and Mineral Planning Statements (MPSs). MPG6: Guidelines for Aggregates Provision in England, April 1994 required Mineral Planning Authorities to maintain a landbank of permitted reserves of sand and gravel sufficient for at least seven years extraction. The adopted Minerals and Waste Local Plan allows for a landbank of 2.7 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
The Annual Report identifies that the landbank of permitted reserves of sand and gravel in Hampshire at the beginning of 2004 was sufficient for only 4.5 years with a further 3.8 years provision identified in the Plan. However, sales for the past ten years have averaged 2.4mtpa, with sales falling to 1.8mtpa in 2003. A number of sites are coming to the end of their permitted reserves and the rate of new planning permissions is not keeping pace with sales. With few exceptions, this is mainly a reflection of the industry failing to submit applications rather than of the planning process.
· Action - the future provision for sand and gravel and other minerals is being reviewed as part of the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework, in the light of revised forecasts and apportionments identified in the Regional Minerals Strategy published by SEERA in March 2004.
6. Meeting the need for waste management
Provision for meeting the need for waste is subject to national and regional Planning Policy Guidance (PPG), currently under review.
The Annual Report identifies a remaining permitted and licensed landfill capacity for non-hazardous waste sufficient for only three years at 2003/2004 input rates. In practice this is largely in only two remaining sites. However, the infrastructure necessary to meet Hampshire's Household Waste Strategy - energy recovery incinerators, materials recovery, waste transfer and composting facilities - is now largely in place. Up to date, reliable waste management data on other waste streams is urgently needed from the Environment Agency to progress the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework.
· Action - the future provision for all waste management facilities will be reviewed in the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework in the light of revised forecasts identified in the Regional Waste Strategy submitted to Government by SEERA in 2004 and other changes in waste management since the Local Plan was adopted.
7. Good practice
The Annual Report identifies examples of where minerals and or waste developments in Hampshire have produced wider benefits in the archaeological and ecological fields, or where such developments have raised wider issues. The County Council seeks to work with the minerals and waste industries so as to minimise the impacts of working and maximise the wider benefits to the communities affected through restoration and access.
Conclusions
Meeting the needs of Hampshire's residents and businesses for minerals and waste management development is a delicate balance between two of the County Council's corporate aims set out at the beginning of this Annual Report - `Stewardship of the environment' and `Achieving economic prosperity' - without compromising the environment and natural resources of Hampshire.
· Monitoring and Enforcement -
Targets set for monitoring and enforcement are not being met, in spite of actions taken to address this issue.
Monitoring minerals and waste activities is time consuming and can involve lengthy negotiations. Formal enforcement action is only used where negotiations have broken down. Such formal action is usually successful but would be likely to fail at appeal or in the courts if undertaken prematurely.
Monitoring and enforcement of minerals and waste development is a careful balance between the resources available and the potential for harm to the environment. To improve the service provided to applicants and residents, a site inspection strategy based on `environmental risk' is required to focus resources where the potential for damage to environments or disturbance to communities is greatest. This may mean that sites considered to be low priority may not be visited so frequently and responses to complaints will have to be prioritised.
Completion of the installation and commissioning of the development control system to include enforcement will enable the operation of sites to be audited more accurately and complaints responded to more effectively.
· Planning Applications -
Targets set for determining planning applications in 2003/04 have also not been met, although actions have been taken to address this issue and improvements are being made in 2004/05.
Processing planning applications is also time consuming and can involve lengthy negotiations to achieve acceptable developments.
Adoption of the Development Control Charter will ensure transparency, increase public awareness of the procedures involved in the development control service and improve the efficiency and performance of the service. The Charter attempts to strike the right balance between the drive for improved performance and enabling the effective involvement of all the relevant interests in the process.
The user satisfaction survey undertaken in 2004 shows applicants and consultees to be generally satisfied with the development control service but there is no room for complacency.
Completion of the installation and commissioning of the development control system to include appeals will improve further the tracking of planning applications and decisions.
· Planning Policy -
The Minerals and Waste Local Plan was adopted in December 1998 and so fails to meet the government's first target of an up-to-date plan adopted in the past five years. However, a programme is in place to produce, jointly with Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils, an integrated Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework.
The first document, the Development Scheme, sets out the programme and procedures for producing and adopting the Framework. The Statement of Community Involvement and Core Strategy, which will set out the sustainable development principles and spatial strategy for minerals and waste management infrastructure in Hampshire until 2020, will follow in 2005/06. Subsequent documents will set out what sites are to be developed.
In future, Annual Monitoring Reports will track progress on the adoption and implementation of the Framework.
The Minerals and Waste Planning Service continues to evolve in response to the changing demands of the industry and community. By publishing a Charter and by seeking wider Community Involvement in the minerals and waste planning process, a greater understanding of different, sometimes conflicting, interests can be achieved. Moreover, plans are now well advanced for electronic delivery of the service via a web site. This will allow applications and comments on them, to be made on-line and provide electronic access to a whole range of information related to the service.
The County Council will continue to strive to balance the need for minerals and waste development in Hampshire against that of safeguarding the environment for future generations.
Alison Quant
Director of Environment
February 2005
The information in this document can also be made available in a large print format. To obtain a copy, or for further information on the contents of the seventh Annual Report, please contact Roger Stow in the Minerals and Waste Planning Group of the Environment Department on 0117 927 7366 or e.mail [email protected]