www.wiltshire.gov.uk
Minerals and Waste Development Scheme
The Wiltshire Minerals and Waste Development Scheme (MWDS) establishes the Wiltshire County Council’s (WCC) priorities and programmes for delivering its Minerals and Waste Development Framework (MWDF). The MWDF is the name given to the portfolio of documents which will provide the policy direction for minerals and waste development in Wiltshire and Swindon.
The MWDS is an important project plan explaining how WCC intends to prepare and deliver the policy documents it is required to produce under the Act to replace the existing Minerals and Waste Local Plans (i.e. ‘saved’ policies and proposals).
These new documents are called Local Development Documents (LDDs) and will comprise two main types:
- Development Plan Documents (DPDs) – which will be subject to independent examination and, with the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) to be prepared by the Regional Planning Body (RPB), will comprise the statutory “Development Plan”; and
- Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) – which will provide further detail of policies and proposals in a DPD but which will not undergo independent examination.
In addition, the MWDF will also contain the WCC’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) which will set out the Authority’s policies and proposals for community engagement and consultation in plan making and development control. Other documents will include the Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) that will provide commentary on progress made towards meeting the preparatory milestones for LDDs.
The MWDS, is therefore the document that identifies how this work will be undertaken, when it will be undertaken, and by whom. It is, therefore, a crucial element of the Local Development Framework.
The District Councils in Wiltshire are also local planning authorities. Under powers granted by the Act, they will also replace their existing district-wide local plans with new Local Development Documents. Each District Council will publish a Local Development Scheme (the equivalent of our MWDS) explaining their programme of work and the milestones to be met in terms of delivering their Local Development Framework (the equivalent of our MWDF).
In addition, Swindon Borough Council, which is a unitary authority, will produce a Local Development Scheme covering the replacement of the Borough Local Plan and joint arrangements with the County Council for delivering the jointly prepared Minerals and Waste LDDs.
Purpose of the Minerals & Waste Development Scheme
The MWDS is critical to the successful programme management of the Local Development Framework. In essence, it is a public statement identifying which LDDs will be produced in what order and when, thereby committing the County Council (and by implication its forward plan making partner – Swindon Borough Council) to that programme of work.
It is also the starting point for the community and stakeholders to find out about the status of the County Council’s planning policies in respect of minerals or waste planning.
As a result, there are four main roles for the Wiltshire MWDS:-
- To inform the public about the County Council’s LDD programme;
- To establish a commitment to County Council priorities and work programmes for LDDs, in partnership with the Governmentand the Planning Inspectorate (PINS).
To provide a programme of work that will allow the preparation of Minerals and Waste LDDs that will satisfy the test of soundness at Examination; and
- In the longer term, to provide a means of programming the review of LDDs.
The County Council is also responsible for monitoring progress made in preparing its LDDs against the work programme set out in this MWDS. This process will be documented every year in an Annual Monitoring Report (AMR).
The County Council is responsible for ensuring that its programme of LDD preparation meets the minerals and waste development needs of Wiltshire within an appropriate and manageable timescale. The AMR will identify any successes or failures in working towards the programme in this MWDS.
Where irreconcilable difficulties arise in the LDD preparation process there may be a need for the MWDS to be revised to allow for the implications of such difficulties to be properly accounted for and factored into the remaining LDD preparation programme. Any such revisions will be undertaken in consultation with the GOSW and PINS to ensure continued compliance with the relevant legislation governing the preparation of LDDs.
Preparing the MWDS
Preparatory work on the original Wiltshire MWDS spanned an 18 month period between Autumn 2003 and Spring 2005. It was agreed by government and brought into effect in June 2005. However concerns regarding the soundness of the programme of LDD prepaartion were noted in the same year and it was felt neccessary to revise the Scheme.Wiltshire County Council began revising the Scheme in Autumn 2005. This was completed in March 2006 following agreement by government.
Contact Details
By Post
Local Plans and Development Control
Wiltshire County Council
County Hall
Bythesea Road
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JD
By Email
mineralsandwastepolicy@wiltshire.gov.uk
By Telephone
01225 713213
By Fax
01225 713437
By Hand
County Hall, Trowbridge
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
