Yes, but:

The Core Strategy includes policies to safeguard existing strategic waste management capacity and enable existing waste management infrastructure to expand or relocate where appropriate. RTAB fully supports the ambitions of these policies. It would be instructive to know whether they have been invoked - whether existing sites have been successfully defended against proposals for, or lost to, other uses. Similarly, it would be helpful to be informed whether proposals for expansion, redevelopment or relocation have been supported under the terms of these policies.

RTAB has some concerns about the potential implications of the continued release of surplus employment land for housing. These concerns stem from situations where land use conflicts have occurred because 'sensitive' land uses have been allowed on land adjacent or close to established waste management operations or proposed waste development sites. This can adversely affect the waste management activity and constrain its expansion or improvement.

This situation would not appear to be addressed explicitly in the existing policy base. Current policy DEL2 addresses the way in which the balance between employment land and housing land is to be managed. Policy WM2 includes a criterion against which proposals for expansion etc of waste infrastructure uses are to be considered; this addresses the issue of 'existing land use conflicts'. Now that the Environment Agency is no longer a statutory consultee on planning applications within 250m of waste sites, RTAB would like to see a strengthened policy included in the revised Core Strategy to safeguard established waste operations and development sites from incompatible development on adjacent or nearby land.