Policy information sourced from the South London Waste Plan

WP5 Protecting and Enhancing Amenity

  • Developments for compensatory or intensified waste facilities should contribute positively to the character and quality of the area and ensure that any potential adverse impacts of the development are appropriately mitigated.
  • The parts of a waste facility site where unloading, loading, storage and processing takes place should be within a fully enclosed covered building.
  • Particular regard will be paid to the impact of the development in terms of:
    1. The Green Belt, Metropolitan Open Land, recreation land or similar;
    2. Biodiversity, including ensuring that development does not harm nature conservation areas protected by international and national regulations as well as ensuring regional and local nature conservation areas are not adversely affected;
    3. Heritage Assets and the need to conserve, and where practicable, enhance those elements which contribute to their significance, including their setting
    4. Sensitive receptors, such as schools, hospitals and residential areas;
    5. Groundwater, surface water and watercourses;
    6. Air quality and polluting emissions, including dust, from approved construction works, on-site waste operations and associated vehicle movements in the locality of new or intensified waste sites, taking account of national air quality objectives and current exceedances; potential impacts within Air Quality Focus Areas. Air Quality Management Areas and/or the Mayor’s expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ); cumulative impacts with other waste sites; the London Plan requirement for development proposals to be at least ‘Air Quality Neutral’; and the use of design solutions to prevent or minimise increased exposure of people and in particular vulnerable individuals to poor air quality;
    7. Noise and vibration from the plant and traffic generated;
    8. Traffic generation, access and the suitability of the highway network in the vicinity, including access to and from the strategic road network;
    9. Opportunities to minimise ‘waste miles’ and the potential of using sustainable modes of transport for incoming and outgoing materials;
    10. The safety and security of the site;
    11. Odour, litter, vermin and birds; and,
    12. The design of the waste facility, particularly:
      • complementing or improving the character of an area;
      • limiting the visual impact of the development by employing hard and soft landscaping and minimising glare;
      • being of a scale, massing or height appropriate to the townscape or landscape;
      • using good quality materials;
      • minimising the requirement for exterior lighting; and,
      • utilising high-quality boundary treatments.
    13. The information in the schedule below will provide the basis for the assessment of the impact of a development and should therefore be considered as part of any pre-application engagement.

For more information please see the South London Waste Plan