Some residents have received letters about the draft North London Waste Plan, which is being consulted on until 30 September. Here is some more information about it. All the details, including the consultation documents, are at www.nlwp.net.

Consultation event for Theydon Road

Tuesday 1 September
7.30pm
Southwold Primary School

An extra consultation meeting will be held to discuss the plan for the Theydon Road area. Residents and businesses in the area will receive letters including a fact sheet about the plan and details of the event.

Theydon Road fact sheet (PDF)

What’s happening?

The North London Waste Plan (NLWP) is a strategic land use plan which proposes sites and areas where future development of waste management facilities may take place. It also sets out policies to determine any planning applications for development of new waste management facilities. Waste is an important infrastructure requirement to support local residents that planning authorities must consider alongside other priorities such as housing.

We recently wrote to residents and businesses near proposed sites and areas because we are keen to get their views on the draft plan.

Does it mean that a new dump will be built in Hackney?

There are no proposals for a waste facility on any of the sites and areas. The draft plan is just identifying land which is potentially suitable for a waste facility in principle. It would be up to waste operators to come forward with an application to develop those sites and areas in an appropriate manner which satisfies all planning policies.

Some people are worried about the development of a landfill site or household waste and recycling centre and have started a petition. There are no plans for a household reuse and recycling centre or landfill site in this area and no identified need for one in Hackney.

The draft NLWP identifies both ‘sites’ and ‘areas’ to meet future waste needs. A ‘site’ is an individual plot of land that will be safeguarded for waste use, whereas an ‘area’ comprises a number of individual plots of land, for example, an industrial estate or an employment area that are in principle suitable for waste but where land is not specifically safeguarded for waste.

Theydon Road has been identified as an ‘area’ within the draft plan. This area is an existing designated ‘Priority Employment Area’ (PEA). These types of areas are considered to be the most suitable for waste management facilities. It is not expected that all of the Theydon Road area would be developed for waste management use, but that suitable plots of land within the area may come forward in the future.

What about facilities that are currently on the sites?

A petition against the Theydon Road area says “We will lose our GP surgery, chemist, supermarket, and bus route. ….the Council wants to take these amenities away and replace with can crushing machines and incinerators!”

There are no plans to close any facilities or get rid of bus routes and there are no proposals for an incinerator to be built in the Theydon Road area. Any new waste management facility would have to be within the boundary of the existing employment area.

What types of waste facilities might be suitable?

The sites identified in the draft North London Waste Plan are small in scale, and therefore any facility would also be small. The draft plan requires that any new waste development is of a scale, form and character in keeping with its location and incorporates a high quality of design.

Any new waste facilities would have to be enclosed. This means operations would take place inside a closed facility. Modern waste facilities typically look like any other industrial shed.

The type of potential activity which might be suitable for the Theydon Road area is waste transfer, processing or recycling – not incineration or other heavy industrial processes. North London is particularly in need of recycling facilities.

The North London boroughs expect well controlled and well-designed waste facilities capable of fitting in with surrounding land uses and to act as good neighbours. So the draft plan includes policies to manage the development of new waste facilities in the area. It seeks to ensure that waste management facilities do not have an unacceptable impact on local residents or the environment. Strict controls on traffic, noise, vibration, dust, litter, vermin, odours, and pollution would have to be incorporated into any scheme.

If a planning application comes forward on any of the sites included in the NLWP, a separate consultation would be undertaken and this would include details on the development proposal including the waste use, proposed technology, size and type of facility.

How can residents find out more and give their feedback on the plan?

There will be a series of workshops and drop in sessions. The Hackney workshop is on 10 September from 1pm-5pm at the Haggerston Community Centre, 8 Lovelace Street, E8 4FF.

Residents must register for the workshop in advance by email at events@nlwp.net or phone on 020 7974 5916.

A drop in session will be held on the same day from 6pm-8pm at the same venue. No registration is required for this session.

There is a lot of information, including site plans and FAQs, at www.nlwp.net.

How can residents comment on the plan?

Comments can be submitted by 30 September 2015 at www.surveymonkey.com/s/NLWPDraftPlan.

Comments can also be emailed to feedback@nlwp.net.

We would advise all interested residents to complete the consultation. All comments received will be recorded, analysed and considered as part of the next draft of the plan. It is anticipated that this will be published for consultation in summer 2016.