Meeting documents

It is recommended that Cabinet:

1)    Notes the progress made on the BuckinghamshireMinerals and Waste Local Plan 2016-2036.

2)    Notes the Inspector’s conclusion that the BMWLP, with the recommended Main Modifications, is sound and capable of adoption.

3)    Recommends the Buckinghamshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan (Appendix 2) progresses to full Council for approval andadoption.

Mr B Chapple, Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

• Buckinghamshire County Council was the local planning authority for minerals and waste.
• The report asked Cabinet to recommend the plan to Full Council on 25 July.
• Mr Chapple praised officers that had worked on the development of the plan.
• There had been eight areas identified for the five year plan; one in Beaconsfield, three in Denham, one in Iver, two in Hedgerley and one near Leckhampsted.
• Minerals were dealt with in their current location which was why there were more sites in the south of the county.

Cabinet raised and discussed the following points:

• Mr Whyte requested reassurance that issues of flooding and access had been taken into account and that robust policies were in place and any mitigation.  Mr Chapple stated that the flooding team had been involved and he was confident these processes were in place.
• Mr Chapple stated that there was no mention in the report to fracking as there were no active licences in the county.
• Mr Chilver made reference to the reduction in waste that came from London to the Energy from Waste (EfW) site and asked if FCC were future proofing the site to ensure they were meeting capacity.  Mr Chapple stated that as a commercial enterprise it would be down to FCC to top up their capacity and had recently been successful in securing a contract with Hertfordshire County Council.
• It was noted that there was a current cap on HGV movements and if there were a plan to increase this would need additional planning permission.
• Mr Chilver highlighted the planning conditions at the Greatmoor site and the reassessment of waste import by rail to meet sustainable transport demands and if that was regularly reviewed.  Mr Chapple confirmed he would raise the need for an assessment at their meeting in September.
• Mr Tett raised that with the large number of locations placed in the south of the county this added an additional pressure to towns and villages in the south that already had high volumes of HGV movements and if that would be taken into account.  Mr Chapple highlighted minerals had to be extracted from where they were located  but steps would be taken to minimise the impact on smaller rural roads e.g. from the south of the county they would travel up the M40 to Bicester and FCC had built a new road into the plant.
• Mr Chapple stated that HGV movements were a concern across the county in particular with major schemes on the horizon but confirmed that any scheme would need to complete their own minerals and waste plan and HGV movements would be a part of that.
• Mrs Cranmer questioned those sites in the report that had not yet secured planning permission and Mr Chapple said at the time of the plan these were assumptions and that those applications would go through the normal decision making process.

Cabinet were asked to:

1)    Note the progress made on the Buckinghamshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2016-2036.

2)    Note the Inspector’s conclusion that the BMWLP, with the recommended Main Modifications, is sound and capable of adoption.

3)    Recommend the Buckinghamshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan (Appendix 2) progresses to full Council for approval and adoption.

RESOLVED:  Cabinet AGREED the above recommendations.