Infrastructure 2020: Planning, Communication, Engagement

21 July 2009
House of Commons

Speakers:

John Burns - Deputy Director, Waste Infrastructure Programme, Defra
Richard Reid - Chair, Waste and Minerals Committee, PLanning Officers Society
Fiona MacDonald - Director, PPS Group
Nick Dawber - Managing Director, ENERGOS

Chair:

Professor Lord Lewis of Newnham

The 2009 National Audit Office report, Managing the waste PFI programme, highlighted the planning process and local community objections as a major barrier to the successful and timely development of new sustainable resource management infrastructure. Projects can be held up for a considerable length of time or be required to make significant concessions due to concerns over the nature of the plans for new infrastructure or the potential impacts of proposed developments. The NAO expressed concerns that such delays could put the UK at risk of missing crucial EU targets for landfill diversion.

This seminar, the first of a two-part series on new infrastructrue, focused on the planning, communications and public engageme
nt challenges involved in the development of new waste management infrastructure, highlighting successful strategies for effective engagement with the planning process and local communities in order to address concerns and ensure new infrastructure can progress from concept to reality.