Harrow's plan to manage waste across West London is facing scrutiny over concerns related to safeguarding, particularly regarding the potential release of protected waste sites.
The West London Waste Plan (WLWP), a joint project involving seven west London authorities, aims to update policies for waste-related development and safeguard existing waste sites. The current plan, adopted in 2015, is considered outdated and requires revision to align with national and regional planning policies, specifically the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and the London Plan.
The Regulation 19 version of the plan, which represents the proposed submission version intended for independent examination, has been presented to the Planning Policy Advisory Panel. Key discussions during the meeting on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, focused on the consultation process and the responses received to the Regulation 18 draft of the WLWP. The main responses causing contention included concerns from the Mayor of London regarding waste capacity calculations and the proposed release of safeguarded sites without compensatory provision, discrepancies in the definition of waste sites, a need for additional policies for wastewater treatment infrastructure, and comments from boroughs outside the west London area seeking to use surplus capacity.
One significant point of contention raised by the Mayor of London concerns the plan's general conformity with the London Plan, particularly regarding waste capacity calculations and the release of safeguarded waste sites without compensatory provision. Discussions are ongoing with the Mayor's office to resolve these issues.
The Mayor of London has raised concerns regarding the identified capacity of safeguarded sites. Specifically, he noted that the capacity of some sites is based on the maximum throughput of waste in the last five years, while other safeguarded sites use a capacity value from the adopted waste plan, a planning permission, or an Environment Agency permit limit. The Mayor stated that this approach is contrary to the policy requirements of the current London Plan, which favors maximum throughput values for the last 5 years as a measure of capacity for all waste sites. He therefore noted that the WLWP may not have the capacity to meet the apportionment set out in the London Plan, which would amount to a general conformity issue if unresolved.
Furthermore, the Mayor of London noted that as drafted, part G of policy WLWP 1 supports the release of safeguarded waste sites for other land uses through the development management process, without requiring alternative waste management provision elsewhere to compensate for the capacity loss (compensatory capacity). He considered this part of the policy to conflict with policy SI9 of the London Plan, which requires the release of safeguarded waste sites to be undertaken through a plan-led process. The Mayor also raised concerns regarding the proposed release of 6 sites that are safeguarded in the adopted WLWP for non-waste uses, without an appropriate level of compensatory capacity being expressly provided.
Within Harrow, the two safeguarded waste sites – the Forward Drive Council depot and 151 Pinner View – remain unchanged in the Regulation 19 version. However, concerns were expressed about the Forward Drive site being a single point of failure for waste management in the borough. Concerns were expressed that the Forward Drive site is the only waste facility in Harrow and there is a kind of a single point of failure should that site be put out of action. The response to this concern was that the resilience of Forward Drive is an operational matter that falls outside the scope of policies within the plan but may be covered by separate waste management procedures.
The current estimated qualifying waste management capacity in West London is capable of managing approximately 2.60 million tonnes per annum (tpa) of Household, Industrial and Commercial (HIC) waste. This is more than sufficient to manage the London Plan apportioned forecast arisings in 2041, which is estimated to be 2.221 million tonnes per annum. This results in a surplus capacity of approximately 0.36 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) for the management of apportioned waste at 2041.
The participating authorities determined that no new waste sites are necessary to meet London Plan waste targets because the safeguarded sites have sufficient capacity to manage the projected Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste arisings and the total London Plan Household, Industrial and Commercial (HIC) waste apportionment for West London. The assessment of safeguarded sites shows a surplus of waste management capacity for both HIC and C&D waste, meaning the amount of waste that can be managed by the identified sites exceeds the waste apportionment set out in the current London Plan.
The Regulation 19 version will be published for an eight-week public comment period from August to September 2026, after which it will be submitted to the government for examination. The participating authorities aim to submit the plan by the end of December 2026 to align with current planning regulations.
While in-person public engagement events will not be held for this stage due to limited attendance previously, consultation materials will be available in libraries and online. The plan itself aims to safeguard existing waste sites rather than allocate new ones, as no new sites are deemed necessary to meet London Plan waste targets. The resilience of the Forward Drive site was noted as an operational matter falling outside the scope of the plan's policies.
More information on the plan can be found in the Public reports pack for the Planning Policy Advisory Panel meeting on July 15, 2026. Public reports pack Wednesday 15-Jul-2026 18.30 Planning Policy Advisory Panel
