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Waste Development Framework (WDF)

The Waste Development Framework consists of a number of planning documents. Two of the planning documents that relate to the waste development framework are the Waste Core Strategy and the Waste Site Specific Allocations.The Minerals and Waste Development Scheme sets out which documents we intend to produce and when we will consult on them.

Waste Core Strategy

Last consultation stage - Preferred Option and Policies consultation

We consulted on the Preferred Option and Policies consultation document as part of the Waste Development Framework Core Strategy from 26th September 2011 to 22nd November 2011. The feedback received during the previous 'Emerging Spatial Options' consultation was used to produce the consultation document. The consultation sought views from a wide range of stakeholders on:

  • the Core Strategy's vision and objectives;
  • the preferred option for locating waste developments in the County;
  • the overarching Core Strategy policies for providing new waste infrastructure in the County; and
  • the Development Management policies that will be used to assess planning applications.

Preferred Option and Policies consultation document (pdf, 22 Mb)

The comments received will help us to produce a final 'Publication' document, due for consultation in March 2012.

View the Preferred Option and Policies consultation document and the comments received

Comments could be submitted:

As part of the consultation, exhibition boards were displayed in libraries throughout the County. Alongside this, "drop in" sessions were arranged where stakeholders could speak to a member of the Waste Planning Policy team.

Timetable of library displays and "drop in" events.

As there is no up-to-date Minerals and Waste Development Scheme in place, the draft timetable for future Waste Core Strategy consultation is set out below:

  • Sep 2011 - Preferred Option and Policies consultation
  • March 2012 - Publication consultation
  • Summer 2012 - Submission

Previous Stages of Consultation

Numerous stages of consultation had been undertaken prior to the Preferred Option and Policies consultation stage. The comments received were taken into account and used to produce the current consultation document. The consultation stages are set out in chronological order below.

Preliminary consultation

A preliminary consultation took place in August 2005. The responses to the Preliminary Consultation were considered in the production of the Issues and Options proposals.

Results of Preliminary Consultation (pdf, 42Kb)

Issues and Options consultation

The second stage of consultation outlined the waste planning issues in Warwickshire and the options for dealing with them. This stage of consultation closed on 10th April 2006. The comments received were considered and used to inform the Preferred Options stage.

Issues and Options consultation document (pdf, 1.9Mb)

Issues and Options comments received (pdf, 649Kb)

Issues and Options questionnaire (pdf, 55Kb)

Preferred Options consultation

The Preferred Options and Proposals Paper consultation ended on 11th October 2006.

Preferred Options and Proposals consultation document (pdf, 36Kb)

Preferred Options questionnaire (pdf, 36Kb)

Preferred Options questionnaire responses (pdf, 899Kb)

Revised Spatial Options consultation

The next stage of the Waste Core Strategy ought to have been submission whereby the comments received during the Preferred Options consultation were considered and would have informed the preparation of the Submission document.

However following the need to undertake a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) and advice received from Government Office West Midlands (GO-WM) and Communities and Local Government over the summer 2008 it was necessary to review our our approach. This resulted in a revised timetable for the submission of the Waste Core Strategy.

It was agreed with GO-WM that the Core strategy needed to be taken back to the options stage. Although consultation had already been undertaken on the key issues in the waste field the spatial options to deliver the waste strategy had not been considered in sufficient detail to meet the test of soundness. For further information please see the Minerals and Waste Development Scheme.

Consultation on the Waste Core Strategy - Revised Spatial Options was planned for June 2008. A consultation document was produced and this was presented to Cabinet on 22nd May 2008 for approval.

Revised Spatial Options draft consultation document 22 May 08 (pdf, 1.9Mb)

However, in parallel to work on the Waste Core Strategy, the County Council was working with sub-regional partners, Coventry City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, in bringing forward a shared residual waste treatment facility known as "Project Transform". This work was in the early stages with an Outline Business Case submitted to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for PFI credits at the end of October 2008. In order to ensure that any spatial planning implications in Warwickshire of a joint facility were incorporated into the Waste Core Strategy, the planned consultation was delayed.

In June 2009, Project Transform was awarded £129 million in PFI funding. The procurement process got underway and the potential contractors were shortlisted in January 2010. The new waste treatment facility was expected to be built in 2016. However, during the Autumn 2010, both Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Coventry City Council recommended that alternatives to a PFI procurement of a new sub-regional waste treatment facility should be considered.

The Project Transform Board have confirmed that recommendations are being made to cease the PFI procurement of a new sub-regional residual waste treatment solution. Furthermore, DEFRA confirmed in October 2010 that as part of the coalition Government's Comprehensive Spending Review, the PFI credits previously allocated to the Project Transform residual waste treatment facility were being withdrawn.

The County Council is now in a position to consult on its spatial options and the comments submitted for the Emerging Spatial Options consultation will be used to produce a 'Preferred Option and Draft Policies' document, due for consultation in August 2010. A Publication document will then be produced for consultation in December 2011, for Submission in March 2012.

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Emerging Spatial Options consultation

We consulted on the Waste Core Strategy - Emerging Spatial Options between 21st March 2011 to 6th May 2011. The consultation sought comments on:

  • 5 'spatial options' for locating new waste development in the County over the next 15 years
  • key waste planning issues that have been refined through previous stages of consultation
  • 13 broad policy directions and Policy Principles to address the key issues for waste planning
  • the Vision and Key Objectives for the Waste Core Strategy.

View the Emerging Spatial Options consultation document and the comments received

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Waste Site Specific Allocations

The delay to the Waste Core Strategy has meant that work on the Waste Site Specific Allocations has been delayed. Work on the allocations is unlikely to take place before the policies in the Waste Core Strategy have been submitted to the Secretary of State for government approval.

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