16 Waste

16.1 The ten unitary authorities in Greater Manchester, including Salford, have decided to produce a joint waste development plan in order to provide a co-ordinated strategy and approach to waste disposal for the whole Metropolitan area. The plan, which will become a development plan document (DPD), will be incorporated into the Local Development Framework for Salford, the successor to the UDP. It will include development control policies and the identification of sites and preferred areas for a range of waste management facilities.

16.2 Until the DPD is adopted, the UDP takes a flexible approach to waste issues, focussing particularly on encouraging the reuse, recovery and recycling of waste and using a criteria-based policy rather than specifically allocating sites for waste management uses. This will help to accommodate new technologies and changing working practices, whilst protecting the city’s communities and environment. Local waste management facilities can reduce the need to move waste long distances by road, but it is important that such facilities are guided to the least sensitive locations. It is anticipated that a new Civic Amenity site will be provided during the lifetime of the UDP to serve the western part of the city. The city council is currently working with the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority to identify an appropriate site, and regard will be had to Policy W 1 ‘Waste Management’ of the UDP in this process. Planning obligations will be used in accordance with Policy DEV 5 ‘Planning Conditions and Obligations’ to secure new or improved recycling facilities as part of major new developments.

16.3 Waste management has the image of being a bad neighbour use and an unsightly activity, but new technologies and working practices mean that this need not necessarily be the case. All new waste developments will be required to be of a high quality, particularly in terms of site layout, design, screening and landscaping, in accordance with the design policies of the UDP, so that they can be seen as a positive contribution to an area. One of the major environmental impacts of waste development is the generation of traffic, and the use of railways and canals, rather than roads, for the movement of waste will therefore be supported.

Policy W 1

Waste Management

Planning permission will be granted for development involving waste management unless it would:

  1. be inconsistent with the principle of seeking to dispose of waste according to the sequence set out in the waste hierarchy (see Policy ST 16 ‘Sustainable Waste Management’);
  2. have an unacceptable impact on health, residential amenity or the amenity of other environmentally sensitive uses (such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes and similar institutions, or open space used frequently for recreational purposes), in terms of visual impact, noise, smell, vermin, dust, vibration, traffic, access arrangements, air pollution, hours of operation, or other nuisance;
  3. have an unacceptable impact or would cause unacceptable harm to, the water environment, water resources, surface or groundwater levels or flows;
  4. result in an unacceptable risk of flooding;
  5. have an unacceptable impact on the stability of surrounding land;
  6. have an unacceptable impact on the highway network, in terms of access, traffic generation, safety, or the free flow of traffic;
  7. have an unacceptable impact on public rights of way;
  8. have an unacceptable impact on the operational safety of Barton Aerodrome;
  9. have an unacceptable impact on the best and most versatile agricultural land or the viability of agricultural holdings;
  10. have an unacceptable impact on any listed building or its setting, ancient monument, or conservation area;
  11. have an unacceptable impact on sites or features of archaeological, ecological, geological, landscape or recreation value, or on protected species or their habitats;
  12. sterilise land with mineral deposits, if mineral extraction is considered to be a viable and appropriate use of the land; or
  13. not make satisfactory provision for screening and landscaping of the site whilst it is being used for waste management.

In addition, applications for landfill and landraising will only be granted where satisfactory provision is made for:

  1. the progressive working of the site in order to minimise the area of working at any particular time;
  2. site restoration, management and maintenance, and, in appropriate cases, for progressive restoration whilst the site is being used for waste disposal;
  3. the utilisation of landfill gas for electricity generation or heating, where gas would be produced in marketable quantities, or its venting in other circumstances; and
  4. the management of leachate.

Reasoned justification

16.4 Waste management development is an essential part of the city’s infrastructure, to ensure that waste is dealt with as close as possible to its source. However, it is important that such development does not conflict with the other policies and proposals of the plan, particularly in terms of its environmental impact. Both the location and form of development will be strictly controlled to ensure that this is the case. Where appropriate, schemes will be required to provide boundary treatments that are seen as public art rather than hostile barriers, to control the height of the storage of materials, and in certain cases to ensure that all storage and waste management processes take place within buildings, and there is no accidental loss of stored waste. Where site restoration is required, this should seek to maximise the future nature conservation benefits of the site, having regard to the priorities of the Greater Manchester Biodiversity Action Plan.

16.5 Waste management developments will be encouraged to utilise rail and water transport where possible, to minimise their impact on road congestion, air pollution and climate change. Landfill gas is a potential resource, and can be used either at source or collected for later use off-site. Landfill with energy recovery lies above basic landfill in the waste hierarchy, and therefore the utilisation of landfill gas is a more sustainable form of waste management.

16.6 The policy will be used to determine applications for any development involving waste management, including landfill and landraising, recycling facilities, waste transfer stations, bulk reduction facilities, energy from waste facilities, and extensions to existing facilities.