DCLG favours development of CHP facilities

Planning authorities are being encouraged to favour the development of energy from waste (EfW) plants with the power to capture both electricity and heat from the combustion process, updated planning guidance published by the government yesterday (July 29) reveals.

This is among the new planning provisions in the governments planning policy for sustainable waste management (PPS10) which sets out the policy requirements that planning authorities must take into account when considering proposals for new waste infrastructure.

It is intended to replace the existing national waste planning policy Planning Policy Statement 10, which was originally published in July 2005, revised in March 2011. It will sit alongside the Waste Management Plan for England, which was launched for consultation earlier in the month (see letsrecycle.com story).

The document was launched for consultation yesterday, with the government keen to see locations for combined heat and power (CHP) plants identified close to sewage works and other facilities that can use heat as an alternative energy source to electricity.

According to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) many proposed waste plants are built CHP ready but a lack of available users of heat – primarily due to the location of the plants means that they operate less efficiently and only produce electricity.

Green Belt

Meanwhile, the government has also included provisions to discourage the development of waste facilities on Green Belt land, other than in very special circumstances, in order to maintain the stringent protection against inappropriate development in the Green Belt in line with the commitment in the Coalition Agreement.

To reflect this, provisions in the previous version of PPS10 stating that planning authorities must give significant weight towards locational needs and environmental and economic benefits when considering applications have been removed.

Documentation accompanying the consultation states: This means that, under national planning policy, these planning considerations should not be given more significant weight compared to others when planning applications are decided for waste facilities in the Green Belt.

“Applications for facilities located in the Green Belt will still need to be considered by waste planning authorities on their individual planning merits having regard to the waste planning authority local waste plan and other material considerations, with the weight to be given on particular planning considerations being for the decision maker, subject to the circumstances of each particular case.

The updated document maintains the plan led approach to waste management set out in PPS10, which requires local authorities to develop waste management plans or planning strategies which deliver opportunities for new waste management facilities where they are needed. According to DCLG, the policy has also been streamlined from its previous version, in order to provide what the government describes as a shorter, more logical structure.

The consultation on the revised policy document closes on September 23 2013.