The joint Essex County Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council saved and adopted Waste Local Plan is the currently approved policy document to guide waste development and determine waste-related planning applications within Essex and Southend.

The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 led to the replacement of the Waste Local Plan with the emerging Waste Development Documents (WDDs). The joint WDD is currently being developed with Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. In the interim the contents of the Waste Local Plan have been saved for an indefinite period, until they are replaced by the WDDs.

The aims of the Waste Local Plan and the WDDs are to:

• Set out waste planning policies and proposals to guide waste related development in accordance with the government’s principles of sustainability.
  
• Outline how planning applications for waste management facilities are considered.
  
• Identify key waste management sites for development within Essex and Southend.

In practice, having a current and an emerging waste plan means that planning decisions relating to waste planning and disposal still use the Waste Local Plan as a policy document, but that the completed elements of the WDD are also considered. Once the WDD has been completed, the Waste Local Plan will be replaced. A timescale for the preparation and development of the WDD is included in the Minerals and Waste Development Scheme.

Consultations on particular aspects of the WDDs are carried out regularly as part of the document’s writing process. A number of supporting and related documents are also produced.

For further information about any of the current or emerging documents, please contact the Minerals and Waste Planning team.