1.1 The Central and Eastern Berkshire - Joint Minerals & Waste Plan (JMWP) forms the land use planning strategy for minerals and waste development within the administrative area covered by the Central & Eastern Berkshire Authorities which are:
1.2 Together with the individually adopted Local Plans for each Authority and any other adopted or made Plans, the JMWP will form the development plan for the area. The Plan guides the level of minerals and waste development needed within Central and Eastern Berkshire and identifies where development should go. Proposals for minerals and waste developments will be considered against the policies contained in the Plan. The determination of non-minerals and waste applications by those Authorities (in terms of other matters such as housing) will also need to take the JMWP into consideration.
1.3 The detailed timescale for preparation of the Plan is set out in the Local Development Scheme (which is the formal programme for the plan preparation process) for each of the Authorities1. The JMWP is a Local Plan, supported by other development documents, such as the Statement of Community Involvement, for each Authority. The policies in this Plan will replace all previous Minerals and Waste Plan policies. The Plan period for the JMWP is up to 31 December 2036.
1.4 The Plan is being prepared in accordance with national legislation. It has also been prepared to be in general conformity with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), National Planning Policy for Waste (NPPW) and the Waste Management Plan for England.
1.5 The JMWP only applies to the administrative area of the four unitary councils of Bracknell Forest, Reading, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham. The West Berkshire and Slough unitary authorities are preparing their own Local Plans.
1.6 Annual monitoring will review the effectiveness of the adopted Plan and its policies. Monitoring issues, indicators and triggers accompany each of the policies in ths Pilan.
1.7 The preparation of the Plan provides the opportunity to develop a new spatial strategy for minerals and waste planning in Central and Eastern Berkshire. At the same time, it allows for changes and adjustments to be made in the planning approach in order to reflect new legislation and other developments since adoption of its predecessors.
1.8 The evidence base for the Plan (see Figure 2) includes the Minerals Background Study and the Waste Background Study which set out the requirements for mineral supply and waste management provision, presented in this Plan (see Appendix C).
Figure 2: Joint Minerals & Waste Plan Evidence Base
1.9 The Joint Minerals & Waste Plan will need to accord with current planning policy and guidance on minerals and waste. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published in 2012 with the accompanying National Planning Practice Guidance2 launched in 2014 as a live document, updated as necessary by the Government. The NPPF was subsequently revised in 2018, 2019 and 20213. The Waste Management Plan for England4 was published in December 2013, followed by the National Planning Policy for Waste5 which was published in October 2014. The 25 Year Environment Plan6 was published in 2018 and sets out Government action to help the natural world regain and retain good health. A Resources and Waste Strategy for England was also published in December 20187. The Strategy seeks to preserve material resources by minimising waste, promoting resource efficiency, and encouraging a move towards a circular economy.
1.10 A ‘Duty to Cooperate’8 was introduced by the Localism Act and Regulations in 2011 to encourage local planning authorities to address issues which have impacts beyond their administrative boundaries. The approach being taken by the Central & Eastern Berkshire Authorities recognises that minerals and waste issues require a strategic cross-boundary approach. Beyond this, it is necessary to demonstrate on-going, constructive, and active engagement with other neighbouring councils and certain organisations that are concerned with sustainable development. Where necessary, Statements of Common Ground and position statements have been prepared to outline the relationship with relevant bodies in terms of minerals and waste movements.
1.11 To demonstrate how this duty has been addressed, a Duty to Cooperate Statement9 accompanies this Plan. The Statement shows who the authorities have cooperated with, the matters discussed, and when and where meetings have taken place to discuss sustainable development and strategic policies to achieve this.
1.12 The South East Plan was partially revoked on 25 March 2013. Policy NRM6, which deals with the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area, remains in place as a saved policy10 and is relevant to the Plan area.
1.13 Each of the Central & Eastern Berkshire Authorities will continue to prepare its own Local Plan, which will focus on the areas of planning that are not related to minerals and waste. They include the following:
1.14 A Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) sets out the approach for involving the community in the preparation, alteration and continuing review of all development plan documents, and in publicising and dealing with planning applications. Each of the Central & Eastern Berkshire Authorities has adopted its own Statement of Community Involvement15. They are as follows:
1.15 A Climate Change Action Plan sets out the strategy and policies for a Council’s response to climate change. Three of the Central & Eastern Berkshire Authorities have adopted or approved their own Climate Change Action Plans. They are as follows:
1.16 Central and Eastern Berkshire is located within the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area. The Thames Valley Berkshire LEP has produced a Strategic Economic Plan23 which outlines the proposed strategic plan for implementing national economic growth and needs to be taken into consideration.
1.17 Figure 3 shows how waste is considered in the plans and strategies which cover the Plan area. While all three types of plan contribute to sustainable waste management, the Waste Strategy considers municipal collection and waste disposal, the Local Plan looks at the uses for employment land (including waste minimisation and reuse) and the JMWP looks at land use for waste management purposes (recycling, recovery and disposal).
Figure 3 - Relationship between the different plans
1.18 In line with European Directives, this Plan has been subject to the following statutory assessments throughout its preparation:
1.19 In compliance with National policy, this Plan is also subject to Strategic Flood Risk Assessment.
1.20 The NPPF24requires that Local Plans are reviewed at least every five years from the year of adoption in order to take into account changing circumstances to the local area and national policy. The review should decide whether the policies need updating and if not, the reasons for this decision must be published.
1.21 Each of the policies contained within the Plan have associated monitoring indicators to measure their effectiveness, and thresholds for when a policy should be reviewed. These thresholds may relate to a breach over a 5-year period or less. The monitoring information will be collated and reported annually. In addition to monitoring how each of the policies is performing, it will also be necessary to consider the inter-relation of the policies to order to measure the effectiveness of the policies to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
1
Bracknell Forest LDS - http://democratic.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/documents/s130421/Revised%20Local%20Development%20Scheme%202019-2022%20Appendix%20A%2021012019%20Environment%20Portfolio%20Review%20Group.pdf
Reading LDS - http://www.reading.gov.uk/media/1053/Local-Development-Scheme/pdf/Local_Development_Scheme_November_2016.pdf
Windsor & Maidenhead LDS - https://www3.rbwm.gov.uk/info/201025/emerging_plans_and_policies/1346/local_development_scheme
Wokingham LDS - https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/planning-policy/planning-policy-information/local-plan-update/
2 Planning Practice Guidance - http://planningguidance.communities.gov.uk/
3 National Planning policy Framework - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005759/NPPF_July_2021.pdf
4 Waste Management Plan for England - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/waste-management-plan-for-england
5 National Planning Policy for Waste - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-planning-policy-for-waste
6 The 25 Year Environment Plan, 2018 - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/693158/25-year-environment-plan.pdf
7 Our Waste, our Resources: A Strategy for England - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/resources-and-waste-strategy-for-england
8 Localism Act 2011 - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/20/section/110/enacted
9 Duty to Cooperate Statement (July 2020) - www.hants.gov.uk/berksconsult
10 Natural Resource Management (NRM6) - http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/south-east-plan-policy-nrm6.pdf
11 Comprehensive Local Plan for Bracknell - http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/comprehensivelocalplan
12 New Local Plan for Reading - http://www.reading.gov.uk/newlocalplan
13 Borough Local Plan for Windsor and Maidenhead - https://www3.rbwm.gov.uk/info/201026/borough_local_plan/1351/submission/1
14 Local Plan Update for Wokingham - http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/planning-policy/planning-policy-information/local-plan-update/
15 Please note that temporary updates are being undertaken by the Berkshire Authorities in response to the 2020 Cov-19 national emergency.
16 Bracknell Forest Council. Statement of Community Involvement 2014 - https://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/statement-of-community-involvement-2014.pdf
17 Reading Borough Council. Statement of Community Involvement 2014 - http://www.reading.gov.uk/media/1051/Statement-of-Community-Involvement-Adopted-March-2014/pdf/Statement-Of-Community-Involvement-Mar14.pdf
18 Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Statement of Community Involvement 2016 - https://www3.rbwm.gov.uk/info/200209/planning_policy/460/statement_of_community_involvement/1
19 Wokingham Borough Council. Statement of Community Involvement 2019 - http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/planning-policy/planning-policy-information/planning-policy-consultations/
20 Bracknell Forest Council Climate Change Action Plan 2016 - https://www.bracknell- forest.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/climate-change-action-plan.pdf
21 Reading Climate Change Strategy 2013-2020 (Second strategy adopted 2014) - https://www.reading.gov.uk/media/1232/Climate-Change-Strategy/pdf/Climate-Change-Strategy.pdf
22 Wokingham Climate Emergency - https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/council-and-meetings/open-data/climate-emergency/
23 Strategic Economic Plan - http://thamesvalleyberkshire.co.uk/Portals/0/FileStore/StrategicEconomicPlan/TVB%20SEP%20-%20Strategy.pdf
24 National Planning Policy Framework (Para. 33) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005759/NPPF_July_2021.pdf