Planning
The NWDA is involved in the planning process at a strategic
level.
Statutory Consultee
The Agency has notified the region’s local planning authorities
of the types of development it wishes to be consulted on in our
role as a statutory consultee.
Essentially, these are major infrastructure proposals and
developments on, or affecting, strategic regional sites identified
in the Regional Economic Strategy. The Agency will comment on other
proposals on a discretionary basis.
Some recent proposals on which the NWDA has commented include:
the proposed new Mersey Gateway crossing; development of a new
headquarters for Greater Manchester Police at One Central Park in
Manchester; various proposals relating to the Strategic Rail
Freight Park at Ditton; and the proposed Tithebarn redevelopment in
Preston City Centre.
A number of the planning applications the Agency comments on
affect the region’s urban regeneration work.
National Policy Statements
The Government is about to develop a series of National Policy
Statements on nationally significant infrastructure projects.
National Policy Statements will establish the national case for
infrastructure development and set the policy framework for
decisions by a new body, the Infrastructure Planning
Commission.
They will cover: new or expanded infrastructure; locational
considerations; how impacts are to be assessed and weighed against
benefits; and how to lessen or alleviate impacts. The NWDA will be
a statutory consultee on National Policy Statements and any
projects which are brought forward within the region.
The Government has proposed 12 initial National Policy
Statements covering: ports; national road and rail networks
(including strategic rail freight interchanges); airports; waste
water (including sewage treatment infrastructure); water supply
(including reservoirs); hazardous waste; overarching energy
(setting the context for the other energy National Policy
Statements); renewables; fossil fuels; electricity networks; oil
and gas infrastructure (including pipelines and storage); and
nuclear power.
Sustainability Considerations
Building sustainable infrastructure in the region is key to
building a successful region. The NWDA considers the sustainability
of planning applications to make sure that developments impact on
the environment as little as possible - both directly, in terms of
generating carbon emissions and using natural resources, and
indirectly, by affecting the lifestyle decisions of its
communities.
There is a dedicated Checklist Northwest website for developers
and architects which allows them to demonstrate how sustainability
has been integrated into a development at the design and planning
stage. The Checklist is mandatory for all developments over
£500,000.
There is also a dedicated Integrated Appraisal Toolkit website
for developers which allows them to demonstrate how sustainability
has been integrated into a development at the design and planning
stage of public realm and public space projects. Again, the
Checklist is mandatory for all developments over £500,000.
The Integrated Appraisal Toolkit is also used by local
authorities, not only to assess projects, but also as an
information resource and a source of baseline information.