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Disposal of Foul Sewage: Supplementary Planning Guidance - Draft for Consultation

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A decision made on 23 January 2012:

Decision Ref:

MD–PE–2012-0002

Subject:

Supplementary Planning Guidance: disposal of foul sewage - draft for consultation

Decision Summary Title:

DS - Supplementary Planning Guidance: disposal of foul sewage - draft for consultation

DS Author:

Principal Planner

DS Date:

January 2012

DS Status:

Public

Written Report Title:

WR – Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance – Disposal of Foul Sewage

WR Author:

Principal Planner

WR Date

19 January 2012

WR Status:

Public

Oral Rapporteur:

Principal Planner

Decision(s):

The Minister for Planning and Environment decided to approve the release of the draft Advice Note – ‘Disposal of Foul Sewage’ for consultation purposes (including consultation with key stakeholders and interested parties).

Reason(s) for Decision:

  1. To help reduce the risk of pollution to the water environment from the foul water systems of new developments, where this would give rise to environmental, amenity and public health problems.
  2. To offer more detailed information and guidance on how Island Plan Policy LWM2 is likely to be operated, interpreted and applied in decision making.
  3. To outline the information requirements for relevant planning applications.
  4. To provide an opportunity for key stakeholders and interested parties to influence supplementary planning guidance.
  5. To regularise and update existing supplementary planning guidance.

Legal and Resource Implications:

  1. Article 6 of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002, provides the Minister with power to issue guidelines and policies (i.e. including supplementary planning guidance) in respect of: development generally; any class of development; the development of an area of land; or the development of a specified site.  Before doing so, the Minister must consult any other Minister or statutory authority with an interest in the development in question.
  2. The development and publication of planning advice notes are in accordance with the above powers.  Also, the main purpose of releasing the draft advice note is to enable formal consultation, prior to review and adoption.  It is not envisaged, therefore, that there will be any legal implications associated with the recommended decision.
  3. The adoption of the guidance should not involve any adverse resource implications for the Department of the Environment or decision-makers, given that this will supersede existing supplementary guidance and provide developers and applicants with greater certainty about what is expected of them, in the light of current Island Plan policy.  The most notable change in work practice will be bringing forward the Building Control involvement with proposals for non-mains drainage to the planning application stage.  This will not involve additional work and should avoid the potential for problematic building control issues, and the associated additional work that this might cause.

Action required:

  1. Notify the Chairman of the Environment Scrutiny Panel, Building Control, Development Control, Environmental Protection, Transport and Technical Services, Property Holdings, Jersey Construction Council and the AJA of the Minister’s decision, and provide them with a copy of the draft SPG;
  2. Request that the States Greffe arrange for a report to be lodged in the States;
  3. Publish the draft Advice Note on the States’ website and invite public comment;
  4. Prepare and issue a media release;
  5. Upon completion of the consultation process, inform the Minister for Planning and Environment of the consultation findings, modify the draft Advice Note, as appropriate, and present to the Minister for adoption.

Signature:

 

 

Position:

Deputy RC Duhamel
Minister for Planning and Environment

Date Signed:

 

Date of Decision (If different to Date Signed):

 

Hide report
Dispoal of Foul Sewage: Supplementary Planning Guidance - Draft for Consultation

 

 

Item No:

 

 

Date: 19/01/12

 

DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

 

Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance –

Disposal of Foul Sewage.

 

Purpose of the Report

To seek the Minister’s formal approval for releasing the draft Advice Note – ‘Disposal of Foul Sewage’, as the basis for consultation.  (see attached).

 

Background

1.                  Proposal 1 of the 2011 Island Plan commits the Department of the Environment to preparing and issuing new and revised Supplementary Planning Guidance.  The intention of the guidance is to expand on and clarify specific policies in the Plan (Section 12, Appendix A).  The Plan also provides a list of the guidance to be released over the Plan Period, which includes revised guidance on the disposal of foul sewage.

2. Island Plan Policy LWM2 specifically addresses the issue of foul sewage disposal for new developments.  It represents a significant change from the policy in the previous Island Plan, which simply presumed against new developments that relied on septic tanks, soakaways or private sewage treatment plants.

3.     The primary purpose of the new policy is to prevent sewerage systems from new developments polluting the water environment and giving rise to environmental, amenity or public health problems.  To this end, the policy presumes in favour of connecting relevant new developments to the mains public foul sewer.  However, there is recognition that the public foul sewerage system does not cover the whole Island and that connection to it might not be an option for some otherwise acceptable proposed developments.  For this reason, the policy is based on a hierarchy of drainage options and allows for consideration of non-mains systems in exceptional circumstances, where connection to the public foul sewer is not economically feasible.  These systems include:

         package treatment plants offering full biological sewage treatment; and

         adequate existing septic tanks and tight tanks for appropriate small-scale developments, where a package treatment plant would be unreasonable.

 

Discussion

4.   The draft Advice Note provides guidance to assist applicants and developers in choosing the best sewage treatment option for their proposed development and sets out the information that must be provided with any relevant application, depending on the chosen option.  In doing so, the advice note reflects the emphasis in Policy LWM2 on connecting to public sewer, which offers the most environmentally, economically and socially appropriate long-term solution.   

 

5.     A key aspect of the guidance is determining when it is reasonable (or otherwise) in relation to economic feasibility and practicality to connect to the public foul sewer. 

 

6.      The guidance makes it clear that all new developments in areas served by an existing public foul sewer (‘sewer available areas’) should connect to that sewer, unless there are insurmountable factors which prevent connection.  

 

7.      In determining whether connection to a public foul sewer is reasonably cost effective, the guidance recognises it is necessary to weigh this cost against the cost of the overall development.  However, it also considers it reasonable that there should be a premium for connecting new developments to the public foul sewer above the costs of installing a private sewage treatment system, because of the resulting benefits to the developer, the occupier and the environment.  The guidance proposes that, as a general rule, it would not be economically feasible for developments to connect to the public foul sewer where:

“the cost of connection…would exceed:

  • 10% of all the construction costs, up to £500,000, plus
  • the cost of a private sewage treatment system (including installation costs) combined; or

 

  • 10% of all the construction costs up to £500,000, plus
  • 5% of all construction costs above £500,000, plus
  • the cost of a private sewage treatment system (including installation costs) combined.

(N.B. subject to a minimum premium of £5,000 at 2012 prices)”.

 

 

8.  Where the proposal is simply to replace an existing non-mains system with a package treatment plant, the guidance militates against connection to the public sewer if:

“the cost of connection…would exceed the cost of a private treatment system (including installation costs) by £5,000 or more (@ 2012 prices).”

 

9. Policy LWM2 makes it clear that applicants must “submit sufficient information regarding the means of sewage disposal to allow a proper assessment of the proposals”.  In this regard, the draft Advice Note introduces the concept of ‘Foul Sewer Assessments’ (FSAs), which must be submitted in those exceptional cases where non-mains drainage is proposed.   Guidance is offered on the required content of FSAs, which must provide sufficiently detailed information to:

  • show that the possibility of public sewer connection has been properly investigated; and
  • allow a proper assessment of the suitability of the proposed system.

 

10.    It is held that planning approvals which are contrary to Policy LWM2 and the associated draft advice note are likely to establish an undesirable precedent with implications for other proposed developments across the Island.  This would result in an adverse impact on the water environment (with its associated environmental, amenity and public health problems) and undermine investment that could otherwise be addressed to necessary improvements of the public sewerage infrastructure.

 

11.     In view of the above, it is considered important that the draft guidance is released for consultation purposes at the earliest opportunity.  This can then be reviewed and amended in response to the findings of the consultation, prior to adoption.  The new advice is intended to supersede the current advice note on the disposal of foul sewage (October 2005).

 

Legal and Resource Implications

12.     Article 6 of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002, provides the Minister for Planning and Environment with power to issue guidelines and policies (i.e. including supplementary planning guidance) in respect of: development generally; any class of development; the development of any area of land; or the development of a specified site.  Before doing so, the Minister must consult any other Minister or statutory authority with an interest in the development in question.

 

13. The development and publication of the draft Advice Note is in accordance with the above powers.  Also, the main purpose of releasing this draft Advice Note is to enable formal consultation, prior to review and adoption.  It is not envisaged that there will be any legal implications associated with the recommended decision.

 

14. The adoption of the guidance should not involve any adverse resource implications for the Department of Environment or decision-makers, given that this will supersede existing supplementary guidance and provide developers and applicants with greater certainty about what is expected of them in the light of current Island Plan policy.   The most notable change in work practice will be bringing forward the Building Control involvement with proposals for non-mains drainage to the planning application stage.  This will not involve additional work and should avoid the potential for problematic building control issues, and the associated additional work that this might cause.

 

Consultation

15.   The draft Advice Note has been prepared in consultation with Building Control, Environmental Protection, drainage engineers at Transport and Technical Services, and Property Holdings.  

 

Recommendation

That the Minister for Planning and Environment decides to approve the release of the draft Advice Note – ‘Disposal of Foul Sewage’ for consultation purposes (including consultation with key stakeholders and interested parties).

 

Reason(s) for Decision

1.      To help reduce the risk of pollution to the water environment from the foul water systems of new developments, where this would give rise to environmental, amenity and public health problems;

2.      To offer more detailed information and guidance on how Policy LWM2 is likely to be operated, interpreted and applied in decision making;

3.      To outline the information requirements for relevant planning applications;

4.      To provide an opportunity for key stakeholders and interested parties to influence supplementary planning guidance;

5.      To regularise and update existing supplementary planning guidance;

 

Action Required

  1. Notify the Chairman of the Environment Scrutiny Panel, Building Control, Development Control, Environmental Protection, Transport and Technical Services, Property Holdings, Jersey Construction Council and the AJA of the Minister’s decision, and provide them with a copy of the draft SPG;
  2. Request that the States Greffe arrange for a report to be lodged in the States;
  3. Publish the draft Advice Note on the States’ website and invite public comment;
  4. Prepare and issue a media release;
  5. Upon completion of the consultation process, inform the Minister for Planning and Environment of the consultation findings, modify the draft Advice Note, as appropriate, and present to the Minister for adoption

 

Written by:

Roger Corfield, Principal Planner –  19th January 2012

 

 

Approved by: 

Kevin Pilley, Assistant Director – Policy and Projects

 

 

Endorsed by:

 

 

Attachments:

  • Draft Advice Note – ‘Disposal of Foul Sewage’.

 

File ref: 8/39/1 (1/12/02)

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