Kent Minerals and Waste Development Framework
Kent County Council (KCC) is pursuing the requirements of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act to develop a Minerals and Waste Development Framework (MWDF) for Kent. The existing Kent minerals and waste local plans will be replaced by the Kent MWDF, which will contain a portfolio of local development documents. These documents will provide policies relating to minerals and waste development. The Act also places emphasis on full community and stakeholder involvement in the development of the framework.
The Environment Council, working together with Dialogue by Design Limited and RJH Associates on behalf of KCC have developed a process of consultation and engagement that aims to:
| > | Reach and consult with key stakeholders at regular and appropriate stages of the framework development process |
| > | Reach and engage with members of the public to not only consult but seek to raise understanding of waste management issues amongst the wider public |
| > | Enable a waste and minerals development framework to be produced that as far as possible meets the needs of stakeholders and has followed a clear and transparent consultation process |
The process to date has included:
| > | A series of workshops, to enable key stakeholders to consider issues around the Minerals and Waste Development Framework. The workshops have enabled stakeholders to raise questions, discuss issues and give feedback on the emerging Minerals and Waste Development Framework |
| > | A series of online consultations, enabling detailed input on the developing Frameworks for waste and minerals |
| > | A user-friendly discussion guide comprising an information pack on waste and minerals and guidelines to encourage participation. This was designed to involve those without any special interest in the minerals or waste and was circulated to community groups across Kent to encourage interest and debate. This has encouraged local people to get involved and to enable KCC to gather feedback from them about their priorities and concerns |
The programmes for the Minerals and Waste Development Frameworks have developed such that the Minerals Development Framework is now running some months ahead of the Waste Development Framework. Consultation on the Minerals Development Framework “preferred options” ended in July 2006. Consultation on the Waste Development Framework’s “preferred options” is expected to take place in early 2007.
Kent County Council (KCC) has been running further engagement and consultation activities July - October 2006 including a further online consultation and key stakeholder workshop. These activities comprise an extra phase in the engagement and consultation programme and are in addition to the statutory consultation stages that KCC will undertake. They are intended to update interested parties on the current progress of the Waste Development Framework Programme and to gain early feedback on KCC’s research and deliberations, including the approaches to the site options process.
For further information on the process please follow this link to visit Kent County Council’s dedicated web page on the Kent Minerals and Waste Development Framework or contact Erica Sutton at The Environment Council by email or by telephone on 020 7632 0117.