The contractual provisions relating to planning normally sit in a separate Schedule to the Contract. The provisions are complex as they deal with a significant number of different scenarios that can arise if a Satisfactory Planning Permission is not obtained from the first application at the expected time. However they are likely to be used so the Contract Manager should ensure that (s)he and key colleagues invest sufficient time in becoming totally familiar with the provisions in detail and that all members of the Contract Management Board are familiar with the main points in the Contract.
To help widen the understanding of the provisions it can be helpful to set out the process using a decision tree which identifies which party has to take which decision and what consequences flow from each decision. If this is done it should be incorporated into the Contract Management Manual.
The Contractor is responsible for securing planning consent and for using All Reasonable Endeavours to do so. However, as mentioned above the Authority has a right to receive quarterly reports from the Contractor setting out what it has done. The Authority has a right to respond and request that more needs to be done but can only do so within the time limit specified. This is five Business Days in the WIDP Contract (Schedule 26) so the Contract Manager must ensure the Authority has systems in place to allow it to evaluate, and respond quickly to, the quarterly notice.
There are also other ways in which the Authority may be able to assist the process without compromising the Authority's role as the Local Planning Authority if this is relevant. For example the Authority can:
• encourage and facilitate communications between the Contractor and the Planning Authority;
• ensure that conditions and s106 requirements that are likely to be recommended by planning officers are communicated to the Contractor as early as possible;
• review and comment on relevant documents drafted by the Contractor;
• attend public consultation events undertaken by the Contractor;
• ensure all members of the Authority continue to be well briefed on the project, the need for new facilities and the implications if the facilities are not delivered;
• ensure the Planning Authority can deal with the application promptly;
• share information with the Contractor to help establish the need for a residual waste treatment facility in the area;
• provide historic data collected by the Authority's project team during the procurement period which is relevant to the Environmental Impact Assessment the Contractor will need to include in its application;
• provide support to the Contractor at any Public Inquiry;
• maintain good communications with local residents to minimise the scale of any efforts to stop the project through the planning process;
• brief the regional planning authority (e.g. the Mayor of London), at least until the application is submitted;
• brief statutory consultees regarding the forthcoming application;
• manage Freedom of Information requests;
• assist the Contractor's consideration of the inter-relationship between the planning application timetable and the process for drafting, consulting on and adopting the relevant Authority Development Plan Documents (if the Authority's Development Plan Documents have not already been adopted);
• explain to the LPA the costs of implementing planning conditions and the contractual allocation of such costs; and
• the Procurement Team could consult with Highway Department for example and organise the implementation of mitigating measures in parallel to the Procurement Process.be wider than facilitating meetings with the planning Authority. The Staffordshire example is a good example and a successful one.
These activities are all legitimate things for the Authority to do as a Waste Disposal Authority. If the Authority is also the relevant Planning Authority the Contract Manager must be mindful of the need to avoid doing anything that compromises its ability to fulfil that role. This is a subtle distinction which will be unfamiliar to most people involved in the project. In order to establish a clear dividing line between what is acceptable and what is not to it is advisable for the Contract Manager to arrange a meeting between the Contract Management Team and representatives from the Planning Department. Ideally such a meeting should be chaired by an officer with responsibility for both waste and planning e.g. the relevant corporate director or the Chief Executive.