This chapter deals with planning for land, water, air and energy, as resources that need proper management. It considers the use and movement of mineral resources in the borough, and fulfils the functions of a 'minerals local plan' and a 'waste local plan' for Ealing.

These raise a number of key issues that need to be taken into account in this chapter:

• The Urban White Paper of 2000 calls for the development of 'previously developed' land, where needed to fulfil regeneration objectives, and to more effectively maintain the existing urban environment - making it cleaner, safer and more attractive, improving air quality, protecting open space, dealing with contamination, and bringing empty property into use.
• Development should be located and designed to enable more sustainable use of natural resources, in the supply of food, water, energy, minerals and timber, in the effective management of waste, the promotion of renewable energy sources and to assist in reducing pollution of air, land and water.
• Local authorities should have regard to information on climate change, and review land allocations in their development plans in light of possible flood risk. All new development should, as far as possible, incorporate sustainable drainage measures, to avoid adding to flood risks elsewhere. In addition, developers are encouraged to promote building designs that are better able to resist and cope with flooding, and which, when flooded, can recover quickly.
• The Council has a responsibility to encourage the provision of new sites for recycling and composting facilities, enable residents and businesses to separate and store materials for recycling, and protect existing sites so that they are available for the needs of the new 'resource recovery' economy. This will be part of the authority's function in providing a waste plan for the area. The Greater London Authority (GLA) is pledged to support this.
• The GLA will safeguard wharves and rail transfer stations that are, or can be made viable for the movement of materials, aggregates, recyclable and residual waste.
• The GLA will encourage re-use of existing buildings and building materials, and the maximum recycling of construction and demolition waste.

There is increasing public and professional concern about the deterioration and even destruction of vital environmental assets. There is a clear role for positive planning to contribute to the arrest of this neglect and lead to a significant improvement of environmental quality for this generation and for future generations.

Some aspects will require an international response, but others can be addressed on a more local scale. Local authorities have a key role to play in environmental protection and the promotion of sustainable development in co-ordination with those managing public utilities, agencies promoting development and voluntary organisations. The Adopted 2004 Plan for the Environment deals specifically with the role of the town planning system in this.

The strategic policy (as set out in chapter one) is Policy 1.2

There are eleven policies for Environmental Resources and Waste, set out below:

Policies for Environmental Resources and Waste

All developments have sustainability implications, and the more major schemes have a particularly significant potential impact across the whole range of environmental, social and community issues covered by this Plan. It is therefore appropriate that both the Council and developers consider these issues systematically, and the Ealing Sustainability Checklist (SPG 1) provides such a framework.

A key issue arises due to a substantial proportion of the Borough's building stock consisting of older buildings, that is those constructed before 1914. Although some may now be structurally unsound, most still have many years of useful life, needing varying degrees of renovation or alteration. Maximising this approach wherever feasible for residential or other uses, and thereby reducing the overall amount of building materials required, helps thereby to reduce the energy used in manufacturing and transporting these materials to sites.

Minerals are natural resources, which act as the source of supply for a wide range of building materials and other uses. Such materials may be extracted from the ground, or recovered and recycled from construction waste.

The urban nature of Ealing gives little scope for primary minerals extraction. There are no sites in the Borough where mineral development would be encouraged, because areas where they might be worked lie under land designated as open space or are of high amenity value close to existing residential areas.

Government guidance predicts the demand for aggregate will rise, and the proportion of this demand supplied from south-east sources will decline. London will need to import larger quantities of aggregate from other regions, as well as distant coastal super-quarries. As the aim should be the maximum use of rail and canal, a long-term, strategic approach to mineral planning is required to meet the needs of development in London.

However, there are non-operational railheads in London and transfer is concentrated at a limited number of railheads, of which Horn Lane, Acton is the largest. As demand rises, it is important that transfer from road to rail distribution is not concentrated at the existing depots, because this would increase road movement within London and place increasing environmental pressure on the existing depots. The above policy reflects this.

The supply and quality of water are natural assets of the borough, which need to be conserved and managed, particularly when considering built developments. The demand for water and drainage by occupiers of new developments needs to be taken into account from the earliest design stages of construction projects.

It is important to conserve and manage the water environment itself, while regulating development that could affect and be affected by watercourses.

There is a particular relationship with the system of Major Open Areas and Green Corridors in the borough, most notably, the Brent River Park. The storage of floodwater adjacent to the River Brent is an integral component of the River Brent Flood Alleviation Scheme, reducing the size of flood flows passing downstream, and hence reducing the extent of the works downstream.

The Council will take into account Government Guidelines, the Strategy for the South East, and the London Plan guidance on improvement to water quality and protection of flood plain and urban washlands, in the allocation and suitability of land for development. The judgement as to whether the risk of subsequent flooding is acceptable in new developments will remain with individual developers. The Council will work closely with the Environment Agency (EA) and Thames Water in relation to water quality and flood risk policies, and British Waterways regarding canals.

The Environment Agency Plan for the Brent and Crane Catchment Area sets out a series of actions to help manage the wide variety of interacting and often conflicting water uses in the area. These are based on the Agency's policies relating to flood risk, water quality and sustainable surface water drainage, which are also integral to the Plan for the Environment.

Increase in flood risk may be caused in either local or downstream areas, with other effects such as river channel instability or damage to water-related habitats. Where development is permitted in such cases, it must include appropriate attenuation measures (such as surface water storage or soakaways), acceptable to the Council in consultation with the Environment Agency. Ground raising within the flood plain will not be permitted, nor will the raising of buildings above ground on stilts or columns. New impermeable surfaces, including parking areas will not normally be permitted, and discharge attenuation measures will be sought for such schemes (in liaison with specialist staff at the Environment Agency).

Areas liable to flooding and areas where attenuation of additional run-off will, or may, be required, are shown in Supplementary Guidance on flood risk and development. Sustainable surface water drainage systems (SUDS) are preferred to conventional piped systems, where ground conditions allow, to reduce poor quality runoff and overflows into sewers with insufficient capacity, and enable improvements in amenity and biodiversity.

Decisions will be made in consultation with neighbouring authorities and other relevant agencies, including the Environment Agency (EA), who can also advise on appropriate drainage systems. Permeable surfaces and other natural attenuation measures should be considered, to address the sustainable drainage aspects of smaller scale developments such as car parks and other hard surfaced areas.

The Council will support initiatives to improve water quality, and ensure access to rivers and watercourses for maintenance and operational purposes.

The Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland sets standards and objectives for a number of pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide, benzene, carbon monoxide and particulates. Development and transport have effects on air quality and pollution both in the local and global environments. The land use planning process needs to ensure that developments do not result in a net increase in such pollutants, and the Council will therefore require an Air Quality Assessment in cases where there is potential for significant increase. Non - polluting developments undertaken in areas already identified as having poor air quality raise issues of exposure, where they will be occupied for significant parts of the day. The Council will expect mitigation measures to be brought forward, where these are appropriate to secure an acceptable development.

This policy is a specific response to the issues raised by the Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. There are other policies in the plan, which, as a by-product of their main purpose, have positive impacts in terms of air quality. In addition, there are other Council policies that are outside the scope of the Plan for the Environment (which is restricted to town planning powers), but which illustrate the range of air quality issues affecting development in the Borough. These measures will be implemented in the context of the Ealing Air Quality Strategy and Action Plan, which will indicate the full range of actions open to the Council, including:

Encourage non-polluting forms of transport, particularly cycling and walking;

Encourage non-polluting and efficient forms of energy generation, at suitable local sites;

Encourage the reduction/elimination of harmful emissions from manufacturing/ industry and other processes in the borough;

Require that new developments / renovation minimise dust from building works;

Planning controls over hazardous substances cover developments where such substances (defined in the Planning (Hazardous substances) Regulations, 1992) may be stored, used, be part of an industrial process, or are otherwise indicated as present. Separate consent under the Hazardous Substances Regulations is also required where such substances are to be present, whether notified as part of a development requiring planning permission or not. The Council will carry out these functions in close liaison with the Health and Safety Executive, and also the Environment Agency, in relation to potential effects on surface and ground waters and other pollution issues.

Developing renewable energy schemes helps to avoid the need for new fossil fuels or other primary energy generation capacity, and reduces emissions of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. Increasing the efficiency of both the construction and use of buildings has been found to have great potential in urban areas such as Ealing, through both new development, and the regeneration and improvement of the existing building stock.

The Government's Climate Change Programme sets a target for 10% of the UK's electricity requirements to be met from renewable sources by 2010. RPG 9 advises authorities to use their development control and building regulation processes to seek to influence incorporation of appropriate renewable energy heating or power systems in the design of new developments. These requirements will need planning powers in addition to the Building Regulations.

All proposals for land use, transport, development, renovation and the Council's own activities need to demonstrate that energy efficiency and conservation are major considerations. This relates to aspects of building design, construction, layout and maintenance, as well as efficiency in the execution of the project, e.g. in the transportation of materials and the co-ordination of building work.

Aspects of energy conserving design include, in descending order of efficiency:

Maximising passive solar gain (by location and orientation);

Natural ventilation;

Thermal insulation;

Energy efficient domestic appliances and boilers;

Solar panels, including photovoltaic cells and cladding;

Research by the Greater London Authority indicates that each of these techniques can be utilised successfully in an urban context, but 'passive solar' design (PSD) has particularly strong potential for new developments, where the technique can be incorporated at preliminary layout stage, prior to submission of a detailed application. Prime examples of PSD energy efficiency include utilisation of the maximum heat gain for living and bedrooms in housing, and avoiding the need for air conditioning in workplaces. Larger extensions for dwellings and workplaces can also benefit from PSD. Newbuildings should aim toachieve the highest standards of energy efficiency and conservation, as measured by the Building Research Establishment standard assessment of building energy efficiency (BREEAM), or an equivalent standard of energy efficiency and management.

Development proposals should be mindful of the nationally recognised 'waste hierarchy'. This prioritises waste management methods designed to minimise waste generation (e.g. sharing of materials, composting); those which re-use and recycle waste (e.g. established schemes for glass and paper); followed by those which avoid landfill - non incineration alternatives to landfill (e.g. pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion); incineration with energy recovery; and landfill with possible methane recovery.

The Council views positively efforts to manage waste more sustainably, particularly initiatives which contribute to achieving minimum generation of waste, and increase waste reduction targets, reuse, recycling and composting. These can range from physical changes to property, local areas, and waste management installations.

Building Materials and Demolition

Through the above policy criteria, the Council encourages re-use, recycling and reclamation of resources, bearing in mind any environmental impacts of such facilities, and supports initiatives contributing to the development of the market in recycled goods.

Local recycling installations for glass, metals, plastics, batteries, oil, paper, cardboard, composting and fabrics are encouraged, and all major developments must make provision for these facilities, appropriate to the volume and type of waste generated by the users of the development.

Local Waste Management Services

By the same token, the policy facilitates the land use requirements of local waste management services, in applications for development associated with the recycling, reclamation, deposit, treatment, storage, processing and disposal of refuse and other waste, on the basis of:

Its statutory responsibility to collect household waste;

Its provision for collecting commercial waste on a contract basis;

Its duties to secure a litter free environment;

Wider planning policies to protect the environment for people in the borough

The Council will continue to provide a wide range of local authority depot and works facilities, including civic amenity sites for recycling and for the collection of waste for transfer and disposal.

Special Waste

Dealing with the increased volume of waste generated in the borough requires careful management, and the facilities established to deal with these, have standards set to ensure safe and environmentally sound practices.