Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Essex County Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council are waste planning authorities responsible for preparing waste local plans (WLPs) which set out the authorities’ vision, objectives, policies and site allocations for waste related development within their administrative areas. The current approved WLP for Essex County Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council – The Essex and Southend Waste Local Plan – was adopted in 2001. WLP’s are expected to remain in place for a 15 year period, with periodic reviews undertaken over that time to ensure that the plan is being effectively delivered. The current Essex and Southend WLP was adopted in 2001 and is therefore now in the process of being replaced to reflect current European Union (EU) Waste Framework Directive and national legislation and policy guidance for waste management. The purpose of this report is to inform the preparation of the Replacement Essex and Southend-on-Sea Waste Local Plan (RWLP). The report summarises an assessment undertaken of land allocated (as of April 2014) for B2/B8 Use Class employment uses in all adopted district local plans and associated Supplementary Planning Documents across Essex and Southend-on-Sea. The report assesses whether the existing employment land provides a suitable location for waste management facilities when assessed against high level environmental, social and planning criteria. The overall outcome is to identify existing employment land areas which could be identified in the RWLP as preferred ‘Areas of Search’ for new waste management facilities. The report makes a broad distinction between which areas may be suitable for the range of enclosed, enclosed thermal and open air waste management facilities based on proximities to sensitive uses but it does not identify the number or scale of waste management facilities that could or should be provided, nor does it formally allocate any identified employment land for waste management facilities. The conclusion from the report is to recommend a list of areas that are potentially capable of supporting waste management facilities in accordance with emerging development management criteria, as outlined in the RWLP. This would facilitate the future provision of waste management facilities in suitable locations across the plan area and provide the RWLP with more flexibility in the event that allocated sites become undeliverable. It is important to note that this is a high level strategic document using broad assessment criteria. The absence of an employment estate from the final shortlist does not prejudice this being reassessed again in the future. Further, the exclusion of an area from the final shortlist does not preclude the granting of planning i consent for waste management facilities on these areas. Any planning application would be required to demonstrate compliance with the Development Plan, which has a stated preference of applications being made firstly on those sites directly allocated in the Waste Local Plan, then within the Areas of Search designated within this report, and then finally on other land types as detailed in the relevant locational criteria policies in the Waste Local Plan. The assessment of employment land areas has not taken into account land availability or land ownership. This report is however being subjected to a full public consultation alongside the RWLP itself. The property managers of each selected site have been added to the list of consultees and as such we would expect to manage land availability and ownership issues through this wider consultation. This report has been prepared by Essex County Council and Southend-on-Sea with input from the 12 district council and city local authorities in Essex (referred to as districts). Key Findings: The assessment identified that having regards to environmental, social and planning criteria, 34 existing employment land areas could be suitable for the future development of waste management facilities. These employment land areas have been identified as potential Areas of Search for waste management facilities. Areas were assessed for their suitability under the following two measures: 1. areas that provide sufficient unconstrained land located greater than 100m from sensitive receptors – potentially suitable for enclosed, facilities; and 2. areas that provide sufficient unconstrained land located greater than 250m from sensitive receptors – potentially suitable for enclosed, enclosed thermal or open air facilities ii CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................................1 2. STUDY AREA ..........................................................................................................................................3 3. THE REPLACEMENT WASTE LOCAL PLAN ..............................................................................................4 4. PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT ....................................................................................................................5 5. METHODOLOGY FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF EMPLOYMENT LAND........................................................8 6. FINDINGS OF ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................ 21 7. SUMMARY AND LIMITATIONS OF ASSESSMENT ................................................................................ 32 8. NEXT STEPS ......................................................................................................................................... 34 APPENDIX A: Land within B2/B8 Use Class as Identified by Districts ............................................. 35 APPENDIX B: Full Results of Stage 1 to Stage 4 Assessment .......................................................... 42 APPENDIX C: General planning policy for employment land areas by District .............................. 61 APPENDIX D: Area of Search Proformas ......................................................................................... 74 iii List of Figures Figure 2-1: Study area ..............................................................................................................................3 Figure 4-1: Relationship between RWLP and this report .........................................................................7 Figure 5-1: Overview of methodology for employment land review .....................................................9 List of Tables Table 5-1: Waste management facilities ................................................................................................8 Table 5-2: Timeline of employment land review process ................................................................... 10 Table 5-3: Policy and evidence used to inform Stage 1 sieving criteria .............................................. 11 Table 5-4: Stage 1 sieving criteria ........................................................................................................ 12 Table 5-5: Policy and evidence used to inform Stage 2 sieving criteria .............................................. 13 Table 5-6: Stage 2 environmental and social sieving criteria .............................................................. 14 Table 6-1: Total employment land per local authority (calculated from Appendix B) ........................ 21 Table 6-2: Summary of Stage 2 assessment against sieving criteria .................................................. 22 Table 6-3: Long list of employment land areas by district .................................................................. 23 Table 6-4: Shortlisted employment land areas recommended for Areas of Search ........................... 27 iv GLOSSARY B2 As per the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) – B2 land is that which is allocated for general industrial uses. B8 As per the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) – B8 land is that which is allocated for storage or distribution use; includes open air storage. Employment Land and buildings within one or a combination of the following land Use Classes as defined by the Use Classes Order: B1 (Offices and Light Industry); B2 (General Industry); B8 (Storage and Distribution). Employment For the purposes of this assessment, an employment land area land area that does not include land included within B1 Use Class and is multiple / adjoining plots of land in the one location used for employment purposes and designated by a local authority as having policy support for B2 and B8 use classes. Flood zone A designation of land which has a certain probability of flooding. This report takes into account Flood Zone 3a which are those areas with a high probability of flooding and Flood Zone 3b which is part of the functional floodplain. Natura 2000 An ecological network composed of sites designated under the site European Commission Birds Directive (Special Protection Areas, SPAs) and the Habitats Directive (Sites of Community Importance, and Special Areas of Conservation, SACs) collectively known as European sites. These sites have special status for conservation under European law. Study area The area to which the review of employment land for waste management facilities relates to, namely the administrative county of Essex and the unitary authority of Southend-on-Sea. v ACRONYMS GIS Geographic Information System HGV Heavy Goods Vehicle MWDS Minerals and Waste Development Scheme NPPF National Planning Policy

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