Waste plan consultation responses

London’s planning authorities must strategically plan to meet their waste needs. They can do this individually or jointly as a waste planning group. Waste planning groups must collectively produce a stand-alone waste plan for the entire group and, once formally adopted by members, it then becomes part of the individual London planning authority development plans. Waste plans are development plan documents and therefore undergo the same preparation process as local plans, ending finally with an examination in public by independent inspectors appointed by the Secretary of State. There are currently four official waste planning groups in London. These are: North London Waste Planning Group, East London Waste Planning Group, South London Waste Planning Group and the West London Waste Planning Group.

While not part of a traditional waste plan, the South East London Waste Planning Group (SELJWPG) was established in 2007 and manages waste collectively. The initial group consisted of the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Lewisham, Royal Greenwich and Southwark. The City of London subsequently joined SELJWPG more recently. This group share a Waste Technical Paper which is updated or reviewed each time an individual London planning authority member conducts a Local Plan review.

Other London boroughs are not part of a formal waste planning group and will plan for the management of their waste by embedding it through sites and policies into their individual Local Plans.