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Wiltshire and Swindon Aggregate Minerals Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD) Consultation

The Aggregate Minerals Site Allocations DPD sets out firm proposals for locating new sand and gravel quarries across the plan area of Wiltshire and Swindon to meet the council's local forecast provision requirements through the period up to 2026.

The draft plan presents those sites that have been identified as being suitable for mineral working within the period up to 2026 and in line with the policies of the Adopted Wiltshire and Swindon Minerals Core Strategy DPD (June 2009).This final round of formal consultation ran for 6 weeks from Monday 30 January 2012 until 5pm on Monday 12 March 2012 and provided an opportunity to comment on the soundness of the Aggregate Minerals Site Allocations DPD. Subject to council approval, all comments received through the consultation, the DPD and all supporting evidence will now be collated and submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination timetabled for late summer/early autumn 2012.

Further Information

Further information on the Wiltshire and Swindon Minerals Site Allocations DPD, is available at the Aggregate Minerals Site Allocations DPD. You can also contact the Minerals and Waste Policy Team by telephone (01225 713429) or email: mineralsandwastepolicy@wiltshire.gov.uk.

Wiltshire Core Strategy Pre-Submission Document Consultation

The formal six week consultation period for the Wiltshire Core Strategy Pre-Submission Document closed on 2 April 2012. The consultation sought representations on the soundness of the proposed submission documents including the Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulations Assessment.

Subject to no fundamental issues being raised on the soundness of the core strategy and supporting documents it is the Council’s intention to submit the document to Full Council for members to decide whether or not to submit the document to the Secretary of State during the summer of this year.

At this stage an Inspector will be appointed to undertake an Examination in Public into the soundness of the document. As part of this examination the Inspector will consider the representations received during this latest consultation.

Further information

Further information on the Wiltshire Core Strategy Pre-Submission document, and its supporting documents and evidence base is available on the Core Strategy webpage. You can also contact the Spatial Planning team by telephone (01225 713223) or email: spatialplanningpolicy@wiltshire.gov.uk if you have any queries.

Wiltshire Core Strategy Sustainability Appraisal Report

The Wiltshire Core Strategy Sustainability Appraisal Report accompanies the Wiltshire Core Strategy. Sustainability appraisal is a process that is carried out as an integral part of developing the core strategy and is a mandatory requirement therefore making it subject to the same level of pubic consultation and scrutiny as the core strategy. The core strategy could be found unsound if the sustainability appraisal is not carried out in accordance with regulations. The sustainability appraisal was formally consulted on alongside the core strategy between 20 February 2012 and 2 April 2012 and comments from this consultation will be made available to the Inspector alongside those on the Wiltshire Core Strategy Pre-Submission Document.

Wiltshire Core Strategy Habitats Regulations Assessment

The Wiltshire Core Strategy Habitats Regulations Assessment plays an important role in protecting important European habitats from inappropriate development. It is a legal requirement for council's to produce a Habitats Regulations Assessment alongside the planning policy documents it prepares.

As part of the preparation of Wiltshire’s Core Strategy, a Habitats Regulations Assessment has been undertaken. This report follows on from the initial screening report which was subject to consultation in June 2011.The assessment was formally consulted on alongside the core strategy between 20 February 2012 and 2 April 2012 and comments from this consultation will be made available to the Inspector alongside those on the Wiltshire Core Strategy Pre-Submission Document.

Submission Draft Waste Site Allocation Development Plan Document

The Wiltshire and Swindon Waste Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD) (“the Waste Sites DPD") is the final document in the current waste planning policy framework for Wiltshire and Swindon. The document takes its lead from the adopted Wiltshire and Swindon Waste Core Strategy (July 2009) and Waste Development Control Policies (September 2009); and builds upon appraisals and evidence gathered since 2005.

The Waste Sites DPD presents a framework of 35 strategic and local scale sites offering a range of potential waste uses to flexibly meet the ever changing demands for waste management facilities across Wiltshire and Swindon up to 2026.

A final round of formal consultation on the proposed submission draft Waste Sites DPD took place during the summer of 2011 (13 June 2011 – 8 August 2011) and the plan was amended to reflect comments received.

The Submission Draft Waste Sites DPD was approved for publication by Full Council on 7 February 2012. The final stage in the preparation of the Waste Sites DPD will be to submit the document alongside the comments and representations received during the pre-submission stage to the Secretary of State for the purpose of initiating the independent examination process, details of which can be found on the dedicated examination webpage.

Next Steps

The examination period, is expected to last 9 - 12 months and will conclude with the publication of the Report of the Government’s Inspector, and further changes to the Waste Sites DPD may be required. If the document is found to be ‘sound’ by the Inspector, the Waste Sites DPD will then be adopted by both Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council subject to changes requested by the Inspectors Report.

Adoption of South Wiltshire Core Strategy

Full Council resolved to formally adopt the South Wiltshire Core Strategy on 7 February 2012. Following this an adoption notice was published providing a six week period for individuals or organisations to make an application to the High Court on the grounds that preparation of the Plan did not comply with the correct procedures.

Having not received any legal challenges to the plan during the 6 week period the South Wiltshire Core Strategy has now been formally adopted therefore making it a development plan for Wiltshire. The list of adopted documents and links to the evidence base and supporting documents can be found on the South Wiltshire Core Strategy web page.

Local Development Scheme

The Local Development Scheme (LDS) is a three year rolling project plan for producing the local development framework (LDF).

It sets out the local development documents (LDDs), including development plan documents (DPDs), prioritised for production by Wiltshire Council and a timetable for their delivery over the three year period. The LDS thereby commits council resources to a programme of work.

The Wiltshire Council LDS 2011 - 2014 was approved by Cabinet on 15 November 2011 and replaces the Wiltshire Council LDS 2009-2012.

For further information contact the Spatial Planning Team by telephone (01225 713223) or by email spatialplanningpolicy@wiltshire.gov.uk.

Last updated: 17 April 2012