Review of the Bedfordshire Minerals and Waste Plan
Wednesday, 10 September 2025
The Bedfordshire authorities have agreed to undertake a joint review of minerals and waste planning policy.
The aim is to create a single, comprehensive plan that will guide future minerals and waste development across the county. The new plan will replace the Minerals and Waste Local Plan: Strategic Sites and Policies (adopted 2014) and the saved policies from the Bedfordshire and Luton Minerals and Waste Local Plan (adopted 2005).
These agreements were made in 2025 during the following Full Council meetings:
- Bedford Borough Council: 2 July
- Luton Council: 15 July
- Central Bedfordshire Council: 17 July
Key stages of the review are as follows:
- early summer 2026: formal consultation on issues and options as well as a call for new minerals and waste sites
- autumn 2027: formal consultation on a draft plan
- summer 2028: examination of the plan
- winter 2028: adoption
We encourage the promoters of land for new minerals and waste developments to pro-actively work-up evidence that supports sites to be submitted through the call for sites exercise. For mineral operations, evidence of actual deposits will be useful.
When the formal consultation stages commence, Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton councils will notify people who are on their relevant contact lists. If you would like to be notified of the formal stages of the minerals and waste plan review, please send an email to your relevant council:
- Bedford Borough Council – email: planning.policy@bedford.gov.uk
- Central Bedfordshire Council – email: localplan@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
- Luton Council – email: localplan@luton.gov.uk
We will lead on the review of the plan, with support from Bedford Borough Council and Luton Council. For any general enquiries regarding the process, please send an email us:
mwplans@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.