The Council had agreed to be a partner in the preparation of a Joint Merseyside Waste Development Plan Document with the Councils for Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Halton.  Initial consultation on the issues to be addressed was carried out during March and April 2007.  Further consultation was now needed on the spatial strategy and sites for new waste disposal facilities to be contained within the emerging DPD, as part of a Spatial Strategy and Sites Report.

The Cabinet considered a report which recommended that public consultation on the Spatial Strategy and Sites Report should be approved; that the approval of public consultation be not taken as an endorsement of the sites or strategy set out in the Spatial Strategy and Sites Report; and that the Council’s comments on the content of the Spatial Strategy and Sites Report be subject to a further report, so that the Council’s formal comments can be submitted as part of the public consultation process, which was planned to take place between November 2008 and January 2009.

Resolved – That

(1)  the commencement of an eight-week public consultation process on the Waste DPD Spatial Strategy and Sites Report be agreed in order to meet project deadlines and those set by the Secretary of State for the completion of the Regional Spatial Strategy;

(2)  Cabinet’s agreement to the commencement of public consultation should not be taken as an endorsement of the sites or strategy set out in the consultation report and that the Council’s formal comments on these will be the subject of a further report and decision during the consultation period.  The Council's Investment Strategy requires that the most effective use is made of key development sites to provide for uses in accordance with the vision and aspirations of the Investment Strategy.