Draft Black Country Plan

Comment

Representation ID: 22504

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Environment Agency

Chapter 2 : The Black Country 2039: Spatial Vision, Strategic Objectives and
Strategic Priorities

The Vision of ‘Creating a prosperous, stronger and sustainable Black Country’ implies an area that is environmentally and economically resilient, not only adapted to Climate Change impacts, but that is robust to other events such as the Coronavirus Pandemic. A Circular Economy, that minimises residual waste, and maximises the economic potential of waste, should result in reduced carbon impacts and increased economic gains, by retaining resources where they can be recovered and put back into positive use, such as in manufacturing or organics in farming. A Circular Economy can support all the 8 Objectives, where waste becomes less of a ‘problem’ and more of a positive
opportunity. This point is perhaps not made as clearly as it could be in Strategic Priority
13. Additionally avoiding sending waste to landfill should not imply the alternative of burning it, as this causes carbon emissions.

Strategic Priority 2 also refers to maximising the use of low carbon energy solutions.
We need to identify ‘low carbon’ options for managing waste, including replacements for traditional Waste to Energy facilities, or possibly their modification to capture and utilise carbon.
The Duty to Cooperate also applies to Waste Management Planning, not just Housing and Employment. As in our letter of 8 September, 2017, we need to ensure that there is no conflict between adjacent developments, specifically residential areas and industrial/waste activities. Strategy 6 says: ‘To provide a built and natural environment that protects health and wellbeing through minimising pollution (air, noise and other forms), providing healthy homes…’ Therefore we need sufficient safeguarding for existing and new waste activities, with application of the NPPF ‘Agents of Change’ provision in the Plan, and with recognition that excessive housing encroachment near waste and other activities can impact negatively on resident’s amenities and wellbeing, including deprived and disadvantaged areas. Additionally, expansion in housing also means an increase in waste volumes produced, with consequent demand for more waste handling capacity, and waste transport can also contribute to both poor air quality in communities and wider carbon emissions, so we need to reduce ‘waste miles’, which requires more and/or larger local facilities for waste.

In short, waste can play a big role in delivering multiple solutions, -if we change how it is both viewed and treated. This probably requires a more integrated approach to infrastructure than has previously been considered, with waste often being dealt with as a largely separate planning issue.

Figure 2, (the Key Spatial Diagram), does not specifically show any existing or planned strategic waste capacity in the context of other proposed infrastructure and this should be rectified.

Comment

Representation ID: 22505

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Environment Agency

Policy CSP1 - Development Strategy.

We recommend reference to both safeguarding key infrastructure and ‘Agents of Change’ here, potentially in point 1c). Policy CSP5 does reference Agents of Change regarding Cultural and Performance venues, however the NPPF wording is not restricted in what Agents of Change should apply to. We are aware of general concerns from the waste sector of residential developments being allowed adjacent to active waste facilities, against objections, with consequent blighted properties and complaints from residents. In some cases effective mitigation would be impractical and
prohibitively expensive and maintaining suitable undeveloped buffer zones is the only realistic solution.

It would also be positive and support decarbonisation to specify that developments are should be Zero waste/carbon and as low-energy as possible. Commitment to driving waste minimisation would also be helpful, for example ensuring that developments provide better provision for waste stream segregation and sorting at source, to allow for increased waste recycling and reuse.

Comment

Representation ID: 22506

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Environment Agency

Policy CSP3 – Towns and Neighbourhood Areas and the green belt Neighbourhood
Growth

We suggest that the coordination of the phasing of Neighbourhood Growth Areas and other strategic developments, so that surplus bulk excavation spoil can be managed to offer ‘Mass-neutral’ construction of building platforms, and minimise the need for waste disposal. This would also help avoid stimulating illegal waste activity, especially where this can present a threat to the Green Belt or Amenity/Habitat areas. In the absence of a national Site Waste Management Plan regime, it would be positive to see a requirement for an equivalent system. The Environment Bill is also exploring how to reduce waste from the Construction sector.

Comment

Representation ID: 22507

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Environment Agency

Policy CSP4 - Achieving well-designed places

Paragraph 2 starts with the qualifier ‘Where Possible..’, which immediately leaves scope for any proposals to claim the requirements are ‘Not possible here’. We recommend that this is deleted or a more challenging approach is included in Paragraph 2, such as through some defined criteria for ‘Not Possible’, such as emergency works, or evidence required to demonstrate when not viable. By comparison, the wording in Paragraph 3 is more absolute. This Paragraph also overlooks the economic opportunity from maximising the use of recovered and recycled materials in construction, especially where locally-sourced, as a Circular Economy needs a ‘pull’ for resources to stimulate the recovery of waste. Sustainable modern technologies should seek to minimise the demand for ‘new’ raw materials as far as possible. In particular would be approaches to increase the recovery and recycling of plasterboard from the ‘skip waste’ stream, as this material can be problematic when landfilled, and plaster is heavily used in construction. Conversion of commercial properties into homes, or the formation of Houses of Multiple Occupation or student accommodation mean that the ‘refurbishment waste stream’ can be a significant factor, as rental properties tend to require more frequent maintenance than owner-occupied premises.

Paragraph 5 refers to encouraging civil and responsible behaviours, this can include reducing practices such as littering, flytipping, open burning of waste, and illegal dumping, processing or ‘warehousing’ of large volumes of waste. It would be very welcome to discuss interventions in this area, including how to tackle locations that seem derelict or ‘uncared for,’ and can attract a range of anti-social activities and crime. A plan to manage and if possible eliminate these locations could be considered, especially to avoid simply ‘moving the problem around’.

Comment

Representation ID: 22508

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Environment Agency

Policy CSP5 - Cultural Facilities and the Visitor Economy

Public ‘Venues’ of any purpose will also produce waste, especially food and related packaging. Entertainment and environmental considerations are not always compatible, with a lot of waste being left at festivals and large events, and tourists can ignore requests to ‘take their waste home’. We recommend that consideration is given here to designing-in waste management at such sites, including possibly a dedicated waste sorting and processing facility for ‘on the go’ waste. Litter also despoils open spaces
and habitats, as has been seen during the Pandemic. ‘A Black Country Responsibility Contract’ issued to visitors, like the Countryside Code, might be an option to influence some behaviours.

Comment

Representation ID: 22509

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Environment Agency

Chapter 4 states that ‘Parts of the Black Country's existing highway infrastructure, and the motorway network, suffer from congestion.’ Some of that will involve movements of waste vehicles, from small vans, to articulated lorries. As mentioned above reducing waste movements and mileages will help reduce this congestion (and air pollution), but requires provision of sufficient accessible waste infrastructure.

Comment

Representation ID: 22510

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Environment Agency

Chapter 11: Waste

Paragraph 11.3 b): To reflect current thinking we recommend this is reworded to say

‘The expansion of producer responsibility obligations and introduction of deposit return schemes for packaging wastes….’
Paragraph 11.3 d) refers to ‘waste disposal crime’. Waste crime covers a wide range of activities, including failure of waste producers to comply with the Duty of Care regime, tax and compliance evasion, and ‘sham recovery’ activities, as well as flytipping, illegal dumping and warehousing. Please consider not restricting the problem to just ‘Waste Disposal’.

Figure 13: Waste Key Diagram

i) With regards to Safeguarding and ‘Agents of Change’ It is difficult to compare the
‘Areas of Search’ with the proposed housing and growth points identified in the other maps to assess where there may be any risk of incompatible adjacent developments. We would expect to see suitable safeguarded buffer zones or other interventions to avoid amenity complaints.
ii) It is not clear what the date of this drawing is, waste facilities do undergo
constant turnover for various reasons, including the ongoing impacts of
Coronavirus on people, businesses and the economy.
iii) It would also be useful to classify existing waste capacity according to its’ relative
Waste Hierarchy Status, rather than simply the general type of facility. As with the identified Metal Recycling sites, a future Circular Economy transition is likely to require more stream specific processing and recovery facilities, such as for various plastics, glass, cardboard and paper, construction materials, organics, automotive and electrical wastes, possibly items such as furniture, carpets and mattresses, and more specialist waste streams, including clinical wastes and batteries. Processing capacity for residual materials from waste to energy plant, specifically bottom ash and emissions abatement wastes also needs to be provided. Some, but not all of these wastes are listed in Paragraph 11.5. It would be useful for the economy to identify what wastes could contribute most economic value and employment opportunities as well as provide
local resources. Conversion of waste to make fuels and energy that will still result in carbon emissions should be avoided unless there is a really compelling argument.
iv) Assessing the relative age of each waste facility can also be helpful in identifying facilities that may be reaching the end of their lifespan and need replacing, or outdated, high-carbon technologies that are unsustainable for a low-carbon economy. Existing waste facilities, especially on brownfield sites, can also be targeted for other more valuable infrastructure development. Identifying which facilities are providing ‘significant useful and sustainable waste capacity’, compared to operations that may be inappropriately located, only handle
trivial waste amounts or are persistently problematic, such as subject to
community opposition can all be useful in understanding the infrastructure picture, to that more of the ‘right’ waste infrastructure comes forward when needed.

Paragraph 11.10 rightly states that: ‘The transition towards a circular economy, the approach to economic development designed to benefit businesses, society and the environment, is expected to significantly change the way waste will be managed in future. In particular, the quantities of waste reused, recycled, and composted are expected to increase substantially’. However we will also need to significantly minimise and avoid waste and especially non-recyclable waste streams as mentioned in Paragraph 1.11. The more ‘circular’ an economy becomes, the more that recovery and remanufacturing will displace traditional production based on ‘new’ raw materials. A consequence of this is that there will be a need for additional waste recovery facilities in addition to those required for planned ‘growth’. So how fast and ‘substantial’ this
increase will be depends on how quickly both a Circular and Decarbonised Economy can be delivered. Whilst progress has been made, it appears that it has not been at sufficient pace to reduce projected global temperature rise and related environmental impacts, including ‘More extreme weather extremes’, -that will then require further and possibly expensive adaptation measures, such as bigger flood defences.

Regarding Table 8, we observe that achieving 50% recycling rates probably represents the ‘Easy wins’ and that attaining higher rates probably requires other interventions and more effort. Whilst it is not normally considered in spatial Planning, a residents
‘environmental education pack’ could be useful in setting out what is and is not possible in a multilingual format, and could cover multiple socially responsible topics such as
litter and dog mess, burning waste, bulky waste collections, assisted collections, HWRC availability, hazardous, clinical and business waste, prevention of flytipping and reputable skip hire/waste removal services, etc .as well as what can and cannot be recycled. Asking residents not to pay cash, or use social media adverts or cold callers offering ‘cheap’ waste removal would all be useful.

Paragraph 11.21 refers to estimates of Business Waste arisings. You may be able to model sources of Business and Commercial Waste production via reference to the Non- Domestic Rates datasets, -held by Councils, which list all commercial premises, even where these are unoccupied. Given the type of business (e.g. retail, office, engineering, manufacturing, healthcare, entertainment, etc.) and size of premises, a model could be constructed of likely waste arisings for the most common premises, and you will also have some intelligence from Council trade waste services. Tracking new and closing businesses could help to refine this model and show trends such as the impact of the Pandemic on non-domestic waste production.

In Table 9, the row entitled ‘Recovery’ largely implies energy recovery, typically with the continued release of carbon to the atmosphere, albeit with some recovery of materials such as metals and bottom ash. New Waste to Energy facilities usually involve a ‘Lock in’ to ongoing carbon emissions for the life of the Plan and beyond, which will require offsetting or other significant cuts to emissions elsewhere. A ‘front end’ sorting facility should also be considered to ensure that only truly ‘residual’ waste is being burnt. Not sure how far we can challenge here? ??–Please refer to relevant Climate Emergency plans and any other National commitments including the potential for Incineration taxes and if there are any realistic alternatives. Recovery of combustible waste streams such as plastics, wood, paper/card, and food wastes may reduce the calorific value of refuse and make it harder to extract energy from?

Additionally you will appreciate that ‘Waste Transfer’ and HWRC facilities can usefully contribute to the pre-sorting of waste and landfill diversion, but do not offer any ‘end disposal’ capacity themselves, they are more a midpoint in the waste logistics chain.

Clearly the regulatory mechanisms for waste, incentives and taxes may also evolve over time, including measures to deliver a ‘Green Recovery’.

Comment

Representation ID: 22511

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Environment Agency

Policy W2 – Waste Sites

Paragraph 3 is welcomed, although it would be useful to indicate what the word ‘near’ means, -preferably setting a safety margin on top of a minimum buffer zone where required, and requiring appropriate measures under ‘Agents of Change’, including the ongoing maintenance of any requirements. Amenity impacts from waste facilities, including noise, odours and dust can travel some distance in adverse conditions, and climate change should also be anticipated.

Paragraph 11.33 refers to a list of sites in ‘Chapter 13’, there appears to be no Chapter
13 in the contents, is this an error?
Paragraph 11.38 The Environment Agency also works to tackle illegal sites and organised waste crime, and will work with Councils and other partners to disrupt such activities.

Paragraph 11.39 also refers to ‘within a short distance’, and as with the term ‘near’ it is not really clear what this means. Some guidance on these qualifiers would be helpful, and again an additional safety margin, so that developments are not built immediately up to the ‘nuisance boundary’, and allowing potential space for screening to be added, would be useful. These issues do appear to be explored in Paragraph 11.40.

Paragraph 11.53 says that ‘Many waste operations are similar to industrial processes’.
Whilst this can be valid, we have seen a shift over generations away from traditional
‘heavy’ industrial processes (e.g. Mineral extraction and processing, Coal combustion, coke, steel and other smelting and plating, chemicals production, ceramics, wood treatment, textiles, munitions production, animal product processing, other manufacturing, etc.) and more modern regulatory regimes have successfully reduced the impacts of those that remain. However certain waste processes (Landfill, anaerobic digestion, etc.) can still create significant amenity impacts that can be challenging to control, despite best efforts. Public acceptance of what is acceptable has probably also evolved over time, with broad expectation of a ‘right to amenity’ the enjoyment of clean air, open space and access to recreation and wellbeing opportunities. This is important in attracting a skilled workforce into the area to boost the economy.

Comment

Representation ID: 22512

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Environment Agency

Policy W4 - Locational Considerations for New Waste Facilities

Paragraphs 3 and 4 both include the words ‘Should include’ - why is this qualifier necessary, and in what circumstances would such information not be required? In particular the design, operational and Nominal throughput capacity of a waste facility
can be a cause of some discussion, regarding capacity planning, so this information can be valuable. In particular, waste facilities often show distinct seasonality, especially relating to the increase in construction waste production and use of HWRCs over the warmer months.

Paragraph 11.70 also introduces the qualifier of ‘where Feasible’. Inevitably there may be practical restrictions in some circumstances, however an effective (solid, passive,) enclosure significantly reduces amenity impacts at many waste facilities. Please review this and all similar qualifier terms that may occur in the Plan to ensure they are not excluded as being simply ‘too expensive,’ by applicants, or will only be retrofitted ‘if complaints are received’. A high ‘right first time’ standard of environmental protection should be designed in, and retrofitting can often be more expensive and problematic. The insertion of such qualifiers in not uncommon in Plans, may represent genuine efforts to produce a ‘reasonable’ worded plan, but can also undermine the overall robustness and ambition if not carefully used and kept to a minimum where they are only absolutely necessary. Otherwise Paragraphs 11.83 to 11.90 are welcome.

In Monitoring, rather than a simple tracking of changes in Waste Capacity, it would be positive to develop metrics that can reflect the more detailed movement of waste up the Waste Hierarchy, away from Landfill and Incineration and towards a Circular Economy.

Comment

Representation ID: 23143

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Environment Agency

Policy DEL1 – Infrastructure Provision
1) This policy should be updated to include reference to Environment Agency Flood Risk Management schemes. These are schemes which are likely to benefit local development and contributions should be sought from developers to facilitate the delivery of these schemes to ensure that the development is sustainable and
contributes to the wider area. Please see Appendix 2 for details of Environment Agency schemes in development in the area: