JSPU Joint Strategic Planning Unit

Planning Commitments for Housing and Employment Uses at March 2010 are now available.

Please click here for more information

For more details and to download the full LDS click here.

The Secretary of State requested the withdrawal of the Minerals and Waste Core Strategy, on 5^th January 2010,  under powers conferred by sections 22(2)(b) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

Planning Commitments for Housing and Employment Uses at March 2009 are now available.

Please click here for more information

Please note the Bracknell Forest report contained an error on page 23 which was corrected on 18.11.09

As a result of the concerns of the Inspector and the issues raised at the Hearings into the Core Strategy, the Berkshire Unitary Authorities have resolved to seek the approval of the Secretary of State to direct the formal withdrawal of the submitted Core Strategy.  The effect of this procedure is that the Inspector will take no further action in terms of examining the soundness of the submitted Core Strategy or considering the representations made to the submission version of the plan.  Consequently, it will be unnecessary to resume the hearing sessions as originally scheduled, and the arrangements for resuming the hearings are therefore cancelled.

Further details of the progress, processes and future procedures will be posted here as soon as they are known.

The meeting scheduled, on 28th July at 2:00 pm,  to resume the Hearings has been cancelled. (See news item on withdrawal of Core Strategy)

The Minerals and Waste Core Strategy Hearings have been adjourned until Tuesday 28th July.

For more details see letter from Inspector Stephen Pratt re adjournment of Hearings (16.6.09)

Guidance and information about the Core Strategy Hearings now available

Minerals and Waste Core Strategy Examination commences 9th June 2009. For more details click here.

Minerals and Waste Core Strategy submitted 27th February 2009. For more details click here

Minerals and Waste AMR published December 2008. Click here for more information.

Planning Commitments for Housing and Employment Uses at March 2008 are now available.

Please click here for more information

The Joint Strategic Planning Unit, working on behalf of the six Berkshire unitary authorities, is producing a Local Development Framework to guide the future planning of mineral extraction and waste management and disposal in Berkshire. The Minerals and Waste Core Strategy is the first document to be produced and two periods of consultation have already taken place on it. 

We will be seeking representations on the 'soundness' of the Core Strategy Draft Submission Report between 15th September 2008 and 27th October 2008. This will be prior to submitting the plan to the Secretary of State for the purposes of commencing an independent examination:

If you would like to read a quick summary of the Core Strategy please click here.

GOSE agreed the revised Joint Minerals and Waste Local Development Scheme on 3rd September 2008.

To download or view a copy of the revised LDS and or the GOSE approval letter please click here.

Last chance to influence the Minerals and Waste Plan

On 15 September, the people of Berkshire get their last chance to influence the strategy for dealing with minerals and waste in Berkshire over the next twenty years. On that day, the Berkshire Joint Strategic Planning Unit publishes the version it plans to submit to the Government, to undergo a Public Examination early in the new year. 

The Joint Unit will be seeking representations on the Core Strategy between 15^th September and 27^th October 2008.

The strategy has some big issues to consider:

• every four months, the people of Berkshire generate enough waste to fill Trafalgar Square to the top of Nelson’s Column. Sticking most of it in holes in the ground is no longer an option, environmentally or from a cost point of view. So what can we do with it?
• government policy says Berkshire has to provide a total of more than 30 million tonnes of sand and gravel over the life of the Plan, to meet the needs of the building industry. That’s enough to fill a queue of lorries 9,000 miles long. Where is it all going to come from?

The Core Strategy Draft Submission document and accompanying documents will be available on this website from 15^th September 2008.

The Joint Minerals and Waste Draft Core Strategy (old Reg 28 version) was initially agreed by the Joint Committee on 2/4/08.  The DPD was then subject to consideration by the 6 Berkshire Unitary Authorities. On 30/7/08 the Joint Committee will consider any proposed changes to the DPD prior to the proposed publication under the new Regulation 27 in the Autumn.

To download a copy please click here.  To download a copy of the accompanying Key Diagram please click here.

The Secretary of State has directed that, under paragraph 1 (3) of Schedule 8 to the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, a number of policies in the Berkshire Structure Plan should be saved indefinitely until replaced by national or regional policies.

For more details please click here

Please note that a revision has been made to site WB MO5 Wasing Lower Farm. When downloading the Joint Minerals and Waste Development Control and Preferred Areas Issues and Options (Reg 25) Appendix Cii please also download Joint Minerals and Waste Development Control and Preferred Areas Issues and Options (Reg 25) Appendix Cii WB M05.

To download both of these documents please click on the link below:

http://www.berks-jspu.gov.uk/content/main.asp?pid=70

The Joint Strategic Planning Unit, working on behalf of the six Berkshire unitary authorities, is producing a Local Development Framework to guide the future planning of mineral extraction and waste management and disposal in Berkshire. We have produced a number of documents for this (listed below) which will be available for consultation over a six week period, between 24^th September and 5^th November. We would welcome your views on them. 

If you would like to read a quick summary of the consultation documents please click here.

The fulll consultation documents can be downloaded by clicking on the links below:

Joint Minerals and Waste Core Strategy Preferred Options (Reg 26)

Joint Minerals and Waste Core Strategy (Reg 26) Final Sustainability Appraisal

Joint Minerals and Waste Core Strategy (Reg 26) Strategic Transport Assessment

Detailed Minerals and Waste Development Control and Preferred Areas Issues and Options (Reg 25)

Detailed Minerals and Waste Development Control and Preferred Areas Issues and Options (Reg 25) Sustainability Scoping Report

Joint Minerals and Waste Strategic Flood Risk Assessment

A review of our Minerals and Waste Plans

Berkshire has a big problem that it has been trying to bury for years. Every four months, we produce enough waste to fill Trafalgar Square to the top of Nelson’s Column. At present, most of it ends up in holes in the ground. But we are rapidly running out of holes in which to put it. Landfill is also wasteful and the Government is putting pressure on us all to find better alternatives. Berkshire people already pay a sizeable tax for every tonne of their waste that goes to landfill and this is set to rise five-fold by 2012. We simply cannot afford to go on as we are – we have to find radically new ways of dealing with our waste.

But Berkshire is also going to get some big new holes in the ground. Almost everything we build needs minerals, such as sand and gravel. An average house needs about 60 tonnes of them, and Berkshire will have to build at least 40,000 new homes over the next twenty years. In total, Berkshire has to provide over 30 million tonnes of aggregates over the next twenty years – enough to fill a queue of lorries over 9,000 miles long. We need to decide where it will all come from, and how it can best be processed and delivered to where it is used.

A new plan for minerals and waste

The Berkshire local authorities are preparing a new plan for minerals and waste that will set down policies for dealing with them until 2026. It looks both at the different methods that we can use for managing, treating and disposing of our waste, and at the choice of sites for doing it. It also looks at the choice of sites where minerals might be extracted, how this can be managed to minimise nuisance and at how recycled building materials might provide more of our aggregate needs.

Everyone in Berkshire will be affected in some way by these proposals, and between September 24 and November 5 you have a chance to comment on them. You can see the plans in the main Berkshire libraries or at your local authority planning office. You can also find out more information about these documents by visiting the Mineral, Waste and Environment sections of this website.  By clicking on the links below you can download all of the documents on which we are consulting. 

If you want a paper copy of the plan, ring us on 01628 796518.

You can also e-mail us at minerals.waste@rbwm.gov.uk to receive an electronic copy of the documents and/or response forms or to download please click on the following links:

Joint Minerals and Waste Core Strategy Preferred Options (Reg 26)

Joint Minerals and Waste Core Strategy (Reg 26) Final Sustainability Appraisal

Joint Minerals and Waste Core Strategy (Reg 26) Strategic Transport Assessment

Detailed Minerals and Waste Development Control and Preferred Areas Issues and Options (Reg 25)

Detailed Minerals and Waste Development Control and Preferred Areas Issues and Options (Reg 25) Sustainability Scoping Report

Joint Minerals and Waste Strategic Flood Risk Assessment

• Chair and Vice Chair of Committee
• Revised Minerals and Waste LDS for submission to GOSE.
• Minerals and Waste Core Strategy Preferred Options (Reg 26) for consultation in September – November
• Detailed Minerals and Waste Development Control Policies and Preferred Areas (Reg 25) for consultation in September – November

The Examination in Public of the South East Plan closed at the end of March, after a four-month inquiry. The Inspectors who conducted it aim to publish their report by the Autumn. This will then be submitted to the Government Office for the South East, who will decide what changes to the Plan need to be made in the light of it. It is anticipated that there will be a further round of consultation on the changes, before the final Plan is adopted as Government policy.

At the meeting of the Joint Strategic Planning Committee on the 15th March 2007 members approved the Minerals and Waste LDS and the policies to be saved from the RMLP and WLP.  These were approved for formal submission to GOSE for a Schedule 8 submission to the Secretary of State.

To view the agenda and papers for the meeting click here.

The Planning Commitments for Housing and Employment at March 2006 are now available.

Please click here for more information

Under the new LDF system, LDDs will be prepared at different times.  This means that existing Minerals and Waste policies will not be reviewed simultaneously.  Current timetables indicate that the proposed LDDs will not be adopted before September 2007, therefore, some existing policies will need to be saved beyond the first three years.

Any policy that needs to be saved beyond September 2007 is subject to the approval of the Secretary of State (through GOSE). The saving of policies beyond September 2007 will be discussed with GOSE as part of the annual review of the LDS at that time.

The Saved Policies will be subject to review and alteration as the LDF process proceeds and the contents of the emerging South East Plan are published.

The policies in the Waste Local Plan for Berkshire 1998 and the Replacement Minerals Local Plan for Berkshire Incorporating Alterations 2001 did not include titles. For better understanding a descriptive title has been added to each policy.

To download the list of saved policies please click here.

Should you wish to make any comments on the list of Saved Policies please email the JSPU at:

Rosemary.morton@rbwm.gov.uk

An Examination in Public of the South East Plan is due to be held, starting on 28^th November 2006. The Panel conducting the inquiry have issued a provisional list of the matters to be discussed and the participants who have been invited to discuss them. Comments on this list can be made to them until 28 September. For further information about the Examination in Public, visit the Panel’s website – www.eipsoutheast.co.uk.

To quickly check the progress on the Berkshire Joint Minerals and Waste LDF and associated work please download Newsletter 1.