Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report

1. Executive Summary

1.1. This report sets out a recommended Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework (HMWDF) approach and associated two year programme to the point at which the final submission to Government can be made (timetable attached as Appendix C).

1.2. Following recent Counsel advice that took account of progress to date, recent legal judgements and latest Government policy in respect of Development Frameworks, it is proposed that the HMWDF continues to be progressed in discrete stages. This would commence with the necessary Core Strategy revisions and changes this autumn and concluding with the individual minerals and waste sites plans (Development Plan Documents).

1.3. The paper also highlights the growing business need for waste infrastructure options to be developed to enable Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) residual waste to be diverted from landfill. In the recent budget announcement, continuing £8 per annum rises in landfill tax levels were signalled to 2013, taking the cost of landfill to circa £100 per tonne four years from now.

1.4. In considering infrastructure options for HWRC residual waste, it is also sensible to have regard to work the County Council is leading on behalf of Project Integra in relation to `processing and collection' methodology aimed at improving recycling rates. Additionally, a key part of the HMWDF process will be the identification of sufficient strategic waste sites that will help to facilitate optimal recycling and recovery of wastes from all sectors, including from commercial sources. If successful, in addition to landfill reductions, a meaningful contribution to the carbon reduction agenda will also result and it might also be possible for future County Council cost commitments to be reduced as a result of adopting a more commercial approach. To this end, it will be sensible to properly assess infrastructure options that enable waste from different sectors to be co-processed.

2. Contextual information

Minerals and Waste Development Framework

2.1. Planning legislation requires the County Council to produce a Minerals and Waste Development Framework (MWDF) comprising a core strategy (that sets out the Council's policies regarding minerals and waste) and one or more site allocation plans. In respect of waste, the policies adopted by the County Council and the strategic sites allocated in the waste sites plan have to address waste from all sectors of Hampshire's community. In this regard, the core strategy and waste sites plan goes beyond County Council duties as waste disposal authority for municipal waste.

2.2. Developing a robust MWDF is a complex task and legislation makes the process open to considerable scrutiny and challenge on technical grounds or the basis of subjective judgements. This point is best illustrated by the first hand experience from the legal challenge lodged last year by Associated British Ports (ABP) in relation to the County Council approved Core Strategy, which was won on a technicality and related to a different planning issue, ie future port development.

2.3. The minerals sites plan element of the Framework has to accord with Government imposed aggregate (sand and gravel) extraction figures for the South East region. Much of the last year, therefore, has been devoted to working at a regional level to influence the then South East England Regional Assembly's (SEERA) response to revised Government apportionments for the South East. Whilst SEERA accepted the arguments put forward by County Council representatives, culminating in a significantly reduced apportionment, ultimately Government, following an Examination in Public (EiP), will have the final say. The EiP is scheduled for October with the Inspector's report and Secretary of State decision due out early in 2010.

2.4. The County Council has previously approved a Minerals Plan. This plan will need reviewing in the light of both the decision to be taken by the Secretary of State and also by virtue of the fact that the HMWDF plan period is now set to run from 2010 to 2026 being six years longer than the original plan period debated by Members last year. Clearly, in the absence of an adopted Framework including Minerals and Waste sites plans, the County Council risks having to determine complex and often controversial planning applications without the support of up to date policies and allocated sites.

2.5. Since the Minerals Plan was approved by County Council last July for submission to Government, a successful application has come forward in relation to one of the allocated sites, a public inquiry has recently just finished (decision due in the coming months) on a site not included in the plan and a further planning application for another allocated site is about to be received.

Waste Management

2.6. The County Council is the leading upper tier authority on landfill diversion by a considerable margin. In the year just ended, some 90% of municipal (predominantly household) waste was diverted from landfill through a combination of high quality recycling and energy recovery. Audited performance results for 2007/08 show the next best performing authority at 64%.

2.7. Despite this excellent achievement, circa 80,000 tonnes of household waste per year is still being landfilled. The cost of landfill disposal is set to increase over the next four years to around £100 per tonne on the back of successive £8 per year hikes in landfill tax rates to 2013. In general, waste management costs have yet to peak in the UK. The landfill tax escalator will add a significant financial burden to all local authorities which, to differing degrees, still rely on landfill disposal. Despite Hampshire's excellent landfill diversion performance, further investment will be necessary if future service costs are to be successfully contained. The consequences of not containing future costs will be felt right across the County Council.

2.8. Practically all of the waste that is presently landfilled, under the current disposal contract, is derived from residual (mixed bulky) waste that originates across the network of 26 HWRCs in the county. Whilst this waste can technically be shredded and presented for processing at one of the three energy recovery facilities (ERFs), this option is costly, the material displaces a greater volume of `regular' waste and it is not a sensible long term solution as it does, and will continue to, impact on the operation and availability of the energy recovery plants.

2.9. Over time, the consequences of any future growth in household waste arisings may well add to the need for further infrastructure investment. Housing growth linked to the South East Plan, for example, could well add up to 150,000 tonnes of new household waste per annum by the end of the plan period. Additionally, almost all non-recyclable commercial/trade waste is currently landfilled in Hampshire or elsewhere. It is possible to co-process domestic and non-domestic waste and, increasingly, local authorities are being urged to extend their community leadership roles to better ensure that sustainable recycling and recovery opportunities exist for all sectors of the community. This accords well with stated aspirations in the HMWDF Core Strategy of eliminating landfill by the end of the plan period and also presents a major challenge given that the domestic sector accounts for less than 20% of the total waste stream.

2.10. Existing domestic recycling and energy recovery infrastructure is generally `full'. At the margins a greater proportion of household waste can be recycled, but in the main, new facilities will need to be introduced, so that certain waste types can be appropriately processed and capacity can be made available for both other sectors and general increases in waste levels.

3. Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework - Planned Approach, Issues and Programme Timeframe

3.1. Recent advice received from Counsel suggests that the Framework should continue to be developed in discrete stages, starting with the Core Strategy revisions and followed by the Minerals sites plan and then the Waste sites plan respectively. Working in this way, the earliest the County Council can approve the third and final aspect of the Framework and make a final submission to Government is around July 2011. This timeframe will need very careful management to limit the chances of the programme being further prolonged, especially as the framework is being developed in partnership with Portsmouth City Council, Southampton City Council and the New Forest National Park Authority and, in due course, the South Downs National Park Authority. Clearly, the longer the process takes the more difficult it will be to bring forward the County Council's own proposals for new waste management facilities.

3.2. Counsel has also confirmed that the Core Strategy must be in conformity with the Government imposed minerals apportionment figure. In other words, the County Council is obliged to plan for an annual minerals extraction level that conforms with the Secretary of State's decision following this autumn's EiP. The specific sites to achieve the apportionment will be allocated in the Minerals plan.

Core Strategy

3.3. In terms of the taking the Framework forward, the first strand of work that needs completing is the Core Strategy amendments. The County Council has already approved much of what will be contained in the final strategy although a successful legal challenge lodged by ABP last year necessitates certain revisions/changes to be made.

3.4. Work on revising and amending the Core Strategy for consultation is nearly complete. The proposed amendments to the Core Strategy will be reported to Cabinet this September with the requisite public consultation process planned for October and November. Counsel's advice is that the minerals target will need to match the draft apportionment in the draft regional plan proposals in this first stage and be altered to the final apportionment, following the Secretary of State's decision, in the amendments recommended to County Council for approval and submission. In other words the Council will be publishing for consultation amendments to a strategy which it is aware may subsequently change in one significant aspect. An explanation of this will need to be included in the consultation materials.

3.5. Subject to the outcome of the regional EiP and the Secretary of State's decision, which it is hoped will be communicated early in 2010, the final Core Strategy amendments will be presented to Cabinet and County Council for decision in February 2010 and then submitted to Government in spring next year with the results of the subsequent consultation on their soundness.

Minerals Sites Plan

3.6. The second HMWDF strand to be progressed to conclusion will be the Hampshire Minerals Plan. The Hampshire Minerals plan, consisting of ten sites, has already been approved by County Council in the summer of 2008. The approval was against a backdrop of a ten year plan period and an annual extraction level of 1.82 million tonnes.

3.7. The final Plan will need to be in conformity with the regional apportionment figure for Hampshire that results from the formal EiP process (scheduled for October this year) and subsequent Secretary of State decision. The earliest the Hampshire Minerals Plan can be finalised will be in the spring of 2010, assuming the Secretary of State's decision is communicated as expected in early in 2010, eg January or February. It is equally possible, however, that a Government decision may be delayed. Depending upon the timing of the announcement and the apportionment for Hampshire, it may be possible to submit the Minerals Sites Plan approved last year to Government late next summer, following a final statutory public consultation. However, should substantive amendments be required, a consultation on the draft amendments would be required prior to a final decision by the Council and the timetable for submission will slip to 2011.

3.8. The current SEERA regional apportionment for Hampshire is 1.62 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). This reduced figure reflects on the leading work taken forward last year by Members and officers to influence the SEERA response to the proposed higher apportionment figure proposed by Government. SEERA has argued that the total annual extraction figure for the South East should be about 9 mtpa, based on recent production trends, increasing recycling and marine dredged opportunities and likely future demand. Government had proposed 12 mtpa in its consultation on new guidelines. Government has recently issued final guideline figures following consultation confirming the 12 million figure ahead of this October's scheduled EiP.

Waste Sites Plan

3.9. The third and final HMWDF strand, the Waste Plan, is somewhat less advanced than the other two workstreams. Background work has begun and a number of key, strategic sites will be analysed and assessed over the coming 12 months.

3.10. The proposed timetable allows Cabinet to consider a draft list of key waste sites in September 2010 followed by a public consultation over the autumn. Subject to the outcomes of both processes, it is envisaged that a submission could be made to Government in the summer of 2011.

3.11. As highlighted in paragraph 2.1., the Waste Plan needs to help facilitate optimal recycling and recovery levels for all waste across all sectors of the community. Whilst the County Council may wish to bring forward its own plans for investment in new infrastructure, the private sector will also be looking to reduce landfill disposal in favour of more environmentally friendly and increasingly cheaper processing solutions. Landfill tax hikes and community carbon reduction targets will combine to create the right market conditions for a material resource recovery culture to expand.

4. Waste Management - Infrastructure Investigations

4.1. As outlined, there is a strong and growing business imperative to contain future waste management costs against a backdrop of rapidly increasing landfill prices. This business imperative is almost certain to necessitate investment in new waste facilities in order that recycling levels across the county can be further increased and certain waste streams, eg non-recyclable bulky waste from HWRCs, can be appropriately processed.

4.2. The County Council is tied to a long term contract arrangement with Veolia which has rights and obligations to domestic waste, either collected by the districts/boroughs or captured through the HWRC network. The contract has some 16 more years to run.

4.3. Veolia has a strong track record in waste management, not only in a UK context but also across the world with strong market positions in both Europe and North America. It is the leading waste management company in the UK and is involved with a number of large local authority contracts, as well as having a reasonable and increasing foothold in the commercial sector. Its delivery record in Hampshire is there for all to see. Some £200 million has been invested in a range of world class facilities in the county, and as a consequence domestic landfill diversion performance is second to none.

4.4. Given the range of `positives' prevalent in the existing long term arrangement, it seems sensible for the County Council and Veolia to jointly explore possible further infrastructure investment options that will enable the County Council to contain, or even reduce, its future waste management cost exposure, and at the same time possibly provide the private sector with some much needed processing capacity.

4.5. The planned investigative work will not formally commit the County Council to further waste management investment. Instead, it will enable a range of different future delivery options to be evaluated and presented for consideration when, or at around the same time as, the HMWDF process is planned to conclude - that is, in terms of submitting sites plans documents to Government in the summer of 2011.

4.6. It is accepted that any future decisions that might be taken will not be straightforward, as benefits, risks and costs will all need to be understood and prioritised.

4.7. The planned infrastructure investigations work will rightly need to take account of the Project Integra `processing and collection' review, which the County Council is leading on and which is scheduled to be concluded by December this year. This review is aimed predominantly at increasing recycling levels, in the main for domestic household waste but with an eye to possible co-processing opportunities with the commercial sector.

4.8. One such area where co-processing opportunities appear to be exploitable is in relation to food waste. Evidence has been compiled that points to there being significant amounts of commercial food waste that is presently being landfilled due to insufficient facilities and lack of overall leadership with regard to the non domestic sector. The County Council might not necessarily look to directly invest in food waste technologies such as Anaerobic Digestion but, through planned investigation work with Veolia and strategic Waste sites work as part of the HMWDF programme, it might be possible for the County Council to help facilitate developments in this area that could lead to overall landfill levels reducing, clean and sustainable energy being produced and those collection authorities contemplating or,` in Eastleigh's case, actually collecting food waste to have access to local facilities.

5. Conclusions

5.1. Completing the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework over the next two years presents a unique set of challenges. The approach advised by Counsel is most likely to proceed successfully, although it has to be borne in mind that in completing the task in partnership, opening up the individual processes (as has to be done) to public consultation and waiting on the outcome of the EiP into the regional minerals apportionment, there are externalities that could well impact on the planned two year programme timetable.

5.2. That said, it is important that the Framework is completed as early as practically possible, such that future planning applications can be assessed against a robust set of planning policies and an agreed list of key, strategic sites for both minerals extraction and major waste operations.

5.3. The County Council has long promoted sustainability and is rightly passionate about protecting and improving Hampshire's environment. The Core Strategy is predicated on maximising material recovery and minimising landfill. A comprehensive Waste Plan will help turn the aspiration into reality.

5.4. Furthermore, it will enable the County Council to bring forward its own infrastructure investment plans so that future waste disposal costs can be better contained or even reduced. Linked to containing costs and improving quality of life for Hampshire residents, it may be possible to integrate domestic and non-domestic waste operations in the future, thus helping to reduce landfill levels across all sectors and enabling the County Council's forward waste management costs to be reduced through collaboration with the County Council's current waste disposal partner.

6. Recommendations

6.1. That the proposed Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework approach and associated two year programme be agreed.

6.2. That approval be given to the evaluation of further waste infrastructure options with Veolia, aimed at eliminating the landfilling of residual waste from Household Waste Recycling Centres and responding to emerging agendas, including:

(i) Project Integra's waste processing and collection review; and

(ii) commercial waste integration possibilities.

2069Rpt/780/PA

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

Links to the Corporate Strategy

IMPACT ASSESSMENTS:

1. Equalities Impact Assessment:

1.1. Assessment of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act has been considered in the development of the Framework, which is not expected to compromise equalities in terms of race, creed or gender but to improve well-being for all.

2. Impact on Crime and Disorder:

2.1. The proposals have no impact on crime and disorder.

3. Climate Change:

a) How does what is being proposed impact on our carbon footprint / energy consumption?

The proposals put forward are aimed at reducing the carbon footprint across the Hampshire community. Additionally, the generation of local, renewable energy will improve Hampshire's energy security.

b) How does what is being proposed consider the need to adapt to climate change, and be resilient to its longer term impacts?

To allow Household Waste Recycling Centre residual waste and commercial waste to continue being landfilled would expose the County Council and the tax payer to unacceptable environmental consequences.