On the Mountfield site, the Inspector, Mr Andrew Newman, said: “I see no realistic prospect of land becoming available for strategic-scale waste management during the Plan period.”
The Inspector recommended that Pebsham should continue to have waste management uses and said that he found nothing of sufficient weight to justify the removal of the site from the Waste Local Plan. He said: “Allocating the site in the Plan would confirm its potential contribution to meeting waste management needs in the Eastern part of the plan area.”
On the Plan's proposal for Ashdown Brickworks for landfill, he said: “I find nothing of sufficient weight to justify the removal of the site from the Waste Local Plan,” and added, “I conclude that there is no evidence that there would be an unacceptable effect on the living conditions of local residents as a result of the inclusion of this site in the Plan.”
Mr. Newman, assisted by Inspector Mr David Tester, spent over one year examining evidence and views from thousands of local people and organisations to East Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council's Waste Local Plan.
East Sussex County Council's Lead Member for Transport and the Environment, Matthew Lock, said: “We know that local people are concerned about waste facilities and the impact on the environment and it is very important for the County Council to get this right.
“This report is a major step forward to achieving new management facilities to deal with the County's increasing waste problem. There are many positive aspects of the Waste Local Plan that the Inspector has endorsed. We now have to give careful consideration to his recommended changes to the draft Local Plan before publishing any modifications for consultation.”
Further information
This is the Planning Inspector's report on the draft Waste Local Plan. Any proposal for a waste management facility would need separate planning permission as well as authorisation from the Environment Agency.
The report contains the Inspector's conclusions regarding the objections made at the Inquiry and those made in writing during the consultation on the two Deposit Drafts of the Waste Local Plan.
His conclusions are made with regard to the general requirement that the Plan provides an appropriate ten-year land-use planning framework for facilities required to deal with waste arising in East Sussex and Brighton & Hove. Where the Inspector feels changes to the Plan are required specific recommendations regarding these changes have been set out.
Officers from both Councils are now analysing the contents of the 291page report. A report to Members detailing the results of this analysis will be presented to East Sussex County Council's Cabinet and the City Council's Environment Committee in due course.
The Councils are required to make a formal response to the Inspector's report setting out any modifications the Councils' propose to make to the Plan together with a statement setting out reasons for not accepting any of the Inspector's recommendations
The Councils are statutorily obliged to make the Inspector's Report available for public inspection within eight weeks of its receipt from the Planning Inspectorate. Due to the high level of interest in this report it is intended that the report will be available to view on the Councils websites within a few days and hard copies will be available in two weeks. The hard copies will be made available for public inspection at Council Offices (details attached) and libraries across East Sussex and Brighton & Hove. Copies will also be available for purchase and anyone wishing to receive a copy should contact Amanda Parks by telephone on (01273) 481846 or by email: amanda.parks@eastsussex.gov.uk.
Reference:
04/175/TH
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