Westmorland and Furness Call for Sites 2024: Waste

Overview

Westmorland and Furness Council is producing a new Local Plan for the district.  This will include policies for minerals and waste which, once adopted, will replace the policies in the Cumbria Minerals and Waste Local Plan. 

The Cumbria Minerals and Waste Local Plan currently allocates the following sites for provision of waste management facilities within the Westmorland and Furness district:   

• Specific Site Allocation - SL18 – land adjacent Kendal Fell Quarry to replace the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) at Canal Head, Kendal 
• Broad Areas (industrial estates with potential to support further waste management provision) – BRO2 Sowerby Wood estate, Barrow; BRO3 – Park Road estate, Barrow, BRO4 – Gilwilly industrial estate, Penrith 

Site Allocations for the HWRC sites have not come forward for delivery. New requirements for recycling food waste and other materials are being introduced by government. We need to ensure that going forward we have the right kinds of waste management facilities in the right locations, to ensure we can meet these new recycling targets and achieve our ambitions for net zero across the district. 

Landowners, site operators and other parties (with the landowner’s agreement) are invited to put forward new sites/areas that they consider are suitable and available for future provision of waste management facilities.  These could include materials recovery/recycling facilities; bulking/ transfer stations; treatment facilities such as composting or anaerobic digestion; energy from waste schemes. 

The council will also be contacting the owners/proposers of all current Site Allocations for waste management facilities to seek confirmation that they wish to continue with that site and to ask for any more up-to-date information that may now be available regarding its viability.  This is because the council needs to demonstrate that these sites are available and deliverable within the Plan period if required. 

Planning authorities should also consider safeguarding existing, planned and potential waste management facilities from non-waste developments that could prejudice their continued operation and viability.  You may use this form to inform us of any such infrastructure or land that you consider should be safeguarded within the new Local Plan.