Purpose

The report will ask the Executive to agree an
approach to preparing a review of the Minerals and Waste Local
Plan, in advance of agreeing a timetable.

Content

RESOLVED
 
KEY DECISION
 
That the Executive agreed that
a new Minerals and Waste Local Plan is:
 
(a) 
Progressed to adoption; and
 
(b) 
Prepared to cover the county of Northamptonshire,
subject to the agreement of West Northamptonshire Council and its
decision for preparing a Plan
 
 
Reason for Recommendations – The Council has a legal duty
to prepare and keep up-to-date a Minerals & Waste Local Plan
that covers the North Northamptonshire area.  As a result of the Local Government Review for
Northamptonshire, the Minerals & Waste function and the staff
that led on its development and undertook the application function
were employed by North Northamptonshire Council. At Vesting Day, an
Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA) was put in place for the North to
provide the service for West Northamptonshire, at a shared
cost.  There is an added confidence in
the capabilities of the team to continue to carry on this
commitment, potentially under a different partnership agreement
with West Northamptonshire Council. The team is experienced in
undertaking this work having done so under Northamptonshire County
Council previously.  Also, under a
one-plan approach for the Local Plan element of their work, there
are significant savings to be made, as opposed to progressing
individually in preparing two separate Plans, one for each
authority.
 
Alternative Options Considered – Beyond carrying out the
Minerals & Waste Planning function for North Northamptonshire
alone, the proposition for expanding the service beyond
Northamptonshire has been considered an option.  Doing so on a regional basis may be a possibility
at some point in the future, potentially with/for a group of
authorities to the south of the North Northamptonshire
area.  However, this is
not considered viable
at this moment in time, requiring significant
forethought and planning to get the agreement of those authorities
and other governance and structures in place.  Also, uncertainty from the prospect of
further local government reorganisation adds to the risk from this
option.  The Minerals
& Waste Planning service has previously been provided to
Rutland County Council, from which some income beyond costs was
gained