Dear Sir / Madam,

Consultation on the Nottinghamshire & Nottingham Joint Waste Local Plan: Issues & Options

Highways England welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Nottinghamshire & Nottingham Joint Waste Local Plan: Issues & Options Report which is likely to cover the period until 2038 (at least the next 15 – 20 years). We note that the document provides the first stage consultation on the Waste Local Plan identifying key issues facing Nottinghamshire in relation to waste and the options available to address them.

Highways England has been appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport as strategic highway company under the provisions of the Infrastructure Act 2015 and is the highway authority, traffic authority and street authority for the Strategic Road Network (SRN). It is our role to maintain the safe and efficient operation of the SRN whilst acting as a delivery partner to national economic growth. In relation to this consultation, our interest is safeguarding the operation of the M1, A1, A52, A46 and A453 which route through Nottinghamshire.

We support the consideration of highway traffic implications in future development management policies for the Waste Plan, to ensure planning applications will be assessed against these criteria. We also support the objective to encourage alternative modes of transport to road-based modes where practical and to allocate waste sites strategically, based on proximity to transport links, and the waste source or end-market.

From review of the Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report accompanying the Waste Local Plan we understand that a Transport Assessment will be provided to determine the baseline from which to assess waste movements through the Plan area and enable a comparative assessment of the traffic impacts from each of the proposed sites. We welcome this approach and would recommend that the development of a Transport Assessment is agreed in a staged approach with the relevant consultees to avoid any abortive work.

We therefore have no further comments to provide and trust the above is useful in the progression of the Nottinghamshire & Nottingham Joint Waste Local Plan.