Minerals Core Strategies
Planning Inspectorate’s view
Stephen J Pratt
Principal Planning Inspector
Planning Inspectorate
Current Position
• To date, about 200 DPDs submitted
- 100 found sound
- 12 found unsound
- but not since December 2007
- 36 withdrawn post-submission
• Minerals DPDs
- 6 found sound
- 4 being examined
- 9 withdrawn post-submission
Purpose Of Presentation
Several Minerals Core Strategies have not
achieved soundness
• Flaws in basic process
• Inadequate evidence base and failure to
provide necessary supporting information
• Not spatial plans
• Lack of criteria for identifying sites
• Delegate too much to subsequent DPDs
• Insufficient detail about nature, scale,
location and timing of proposed minerals
developments
Minerals Core Strategy
Minerals Core Strategy should:
• Set out the basic strategy for minerals,
clearly indicating:
– How the strategy/policies ensure the best
integration of social, environmental and
economic costs and benefits of mineral
working, by applying the principles of
sustainable development, in line with
national policy in MPS1
Planning Policy Statement MPS1 & Practice Guide
Minerals Core Strategy
Minerals Core Strategy should:
• Set out the strategy for all relevant minerals
in the area, including:
• broad locations/areas of search/specific sites
for future mineral working
• policies for safeguarding economically proven
mineral resources from incompatible development,
with broad locations/areas shown on the Key
Diagram
• Explain how the strategy will implement the policies
and strategy in the RSS and meet the requirements
for mineral production
• identifying the levels of provision and maintaining
appropriate landbanks over the plan period to meet
the apportionment levels in the approved/emerging
RSS
Minerals Core Strategy
Minerals Core Strategy should:
•
•
•
•
•
Provide a spatial portrait of the area
Establish a spatial vision and objectives
Outline the locally specific issues faced
Set out the strategy for achieving that vision
Include targets and indicators required to monitor
and implement the minerals strategy and assess
the performance of the policies.
• Core Strategy should take the difficult decisions
on minerals strategy and location of mineral
areas/sites
Minerals Core Strategy
Minerals Core Strategy should:
• Explain how sites for future mineral working
will be identified
• including the basic criteria for making subsequent
site allocations and considering planning
applications
• Include policies for:
• dealing with restoration and after-care of mineral
working sites
• encouraging the use of recycled/secondary
aggregates
Minerals Core Strategy
Minerals Core Strategy should:
• Be as specific as possible in terms of strategic
guidance and spatial direction
• Provide a firm framework for subsequent
DPDs and considering planning applications
• Plan positively for the required supply of
minerals
• Although minerals can only be worked where
they exist, don’t leave an open book for the
minerals industry to determine locations
• Address cross-boundary transfer of minerals
Basic Requirements
What?
What is the future required supply of minerals?
Where?
Where will future minerals supply be located?
When?
Timescale for provision
How?
Who will deliver the supply of minerals?
Detailed and deliverable?
• Sufficient detail to provide a clear steer for site-specific
allocations and development management decisions
• Capable of being implemented and monitored
What Should Be Covered
• Mineral supply/provision policies
• Landbanks and apportionment
• Recycled and secondary aggregates
• Safeguarding mineral resources
• Identifying sites/areas for mineral working
• Restoration and after-care
• Development management policies
Provision Policies
• How will the sub-regional apportionment
for aggregates be met?
• Information on supply of/demand for
minerals, including type, location,
timescale and current landbanks
• Engage with minerals industry on future
supply strategies and proposals
• Absence of reliable information on minerals
is not a reason to avoid taking important
decisions
Provision Policies
Identify levels of provision for the supply
of minerals worked in the plan area,
using sub-regional apportionment
• Aggregates
• sand and gravel and crushed rock
• Other minerals
• eg. brick clay, silica sand, building stone
Good Practice
Minerals supply/provision policies
“Subject to the outcome of future reviews
of national and regional policy guidance,
provision will be made for the release of land
to allow the production of an average level
of 1.60 million tonnes/per year of sand and
gravel and 2.30 million tonnes/per year of
crushed rock to 2026”.
Landbanks
• Policy commitment to maintaining landbanks
of permitted reserves of non-energy minerals
• Ensure continuity of supply throughout the plan period
• Need information on current landbanks for specific
minerals
• Landbank relates to whole area
• Separate landbanks for
• sand and gravel and crushed rock
• other minerals
• Specific landbanks for other non-energy minerals
• eg. silica sand, brick clay, cement
• Sub-area landbanks
• for specific minerals, where appropriate?
Good Practice
Landbanks
“Landbanks of permitted reserves of sand
and gravel sufficient for at least 7 years
supply and crushed rock sufficient for at
least 10 years supply will be maintained
throughout the plan period.
Additional land will be made available during
the plan period for the extraction of minerals
for cement or brick manufacturing where
it can be demonstrated that the landbank
supplying the manufacturing plant will fall
short of 25 years during the plan period”
Recycled and Secondary Materials
• Policy encouragement for the use of recycled and
secondary materials as alternatives to primary
minerals
• Reflect national/regional policy, priorities and
targets for use of recycled aggregates
• Safeguard and identify new sites for handling,
processing and distributing recycled/
secondary aggregates, with necessary controls
• Don’t forget the link between recycled/secondary
aggregates and use of construction/demolition
waste
Good Practice
Recycled/secondary aggregates
“The contribution to aggregate demand from
primary extraction and from recycled and
secondary materials will be monitored.
Should the contribution of these alternative
materials exceed 25% of the total aggregate
usage, the release of any additional sites
will be reviewed and updated as a matter
of urgency”
Safeguarding
• Need to safeguard proven deposits of mineral
resources of economic importance from
sterilisation by surface development or
incompatible development nearby
-
BGS survey/guide to safeguarding
Mineral Safeguarding Areas
Mineral Consultation Areas (in two-tier areas)
Policy on prior extraction of minerals
• Safeguard existing, planned and potential
sites for storage, handling, processing and
transport of primary, recycled/secondary
and marine dredged material
Good Practice
Safeguarding Mineral Resources
“Mineral resources with the potential for
extraction now or in the future will be identified
as Mineral Safeguarding Areas and protected
from permanent sterilisation by other
development.
Extraction of mineral resources prior to other
development will be encouraged.
Mineral Consultation Areas will be identified and
reviewed regularly. District councils will consult
the Mineral Planning Authority where proposals
for development fall within these areas”
Restoration and After-Care
• Policies for the restoration, after-use and
after-care of mineral workings
• Consistency with national and regional policy
(MPG7)
• Issues
- Period of after-care (maximum 5 years)
- Financial guarantees not normally needed
- See MPG7 for tightly defined circumstances
Good Practice
Restoration and after-care
“The restoration, after-care management and
future after-use of mineral sites will be primary
considerations in the process of planning for
all new minerals development.
Proposals for the restoration and management
of mineral workings should be addressed at the
earliest opportunity within the planning process.
Proposals for mineral working will be permitted
only where satisfactory provision has been made
for the restoration and after-use of the site,
within a reasonable timescale”
Identifying Sites for Mineral Working
• Make sufficient provision to meet identified
needs over the plan period from
environmentally acceptable sources
• Mineral Core Strategies should
- indicate broad areas of search, preferred
areas and any strategic site allocations
• Site Allocations DPD should
- identify detailed boundaries of areas of
search and preferred areas
- identify specific sites for mineral working
Identifying Sites for Mineral Working
• Extent to which MPA is able to identify specific sites,
preferred areas or broad areas of search depends on
- information about presence and viability of mineral
resources
- environmental acceptability of mineral working
- more choice of site selection where greater
occurrence of resource
• Where only areas of search are proposed
- clear and acceptable justification needed
- consider need to review plan when further site
information becomes available
Good Practice
Identifying future mineral sites/areas
“Preferred Areas/Areas of Search will be
identified to enable a landbank of at least
7 years supply at the sub-regional
apportionment level for sand and gravel will
be maintained throughout the plan period.
A Preferred Area will be identified for extending
Enderby Quarry for very high specification
roadstone.
A Preferred Area will be identified for extending
High Torr Quarry for working additional
gypsum”.
Development Management Policies
• No need to repeat national policies
• Locally distinctive policies needed
• Avoid placing unreasonable constraints on
mineral working by including overly restrictive
policies
• Policies should be consistent with national
policies and in general conformity with
approved/emerging RSS
• Review the need for detailed suite of old-style
development control policies
Development Management Policies
• Remember that minerals can only be worked
where they exist
- including in Green Belt/National Parks/AONBs
• Policies can ensure measures are
incorporated into proposals to mitigate
the environmental impacts of mineral
working and the transport of minerals
• Policies can help to protect local
communities and designated sites/areas
• Policies can encourage efficient mineral
working
Flexibility
Minerals Core Strategy should incorporate flexibility
• Flexibility should be built in at the outset,
to deal with changing circumstances
• Clearly detail the circumstances when particular
options come into effect
• Include clear monitoring indicators with specific
targets/indicators
• Address and include contingencies, with appropriate
alternative strategies/proposals
• Look forward at least 15 years from the date of adoption
and not rely on regular reviews
• Flexibility should not be an excuse for being
generalised and vague
Links to other plans
Minerals Strategy should have regard to
•
•
•
•
Policies/figures/targets in the approved RSS
National policy in MPS1, MPS2, MPG7 etc
Other strategies/initiatives of the MPA
Other policies and strategies:
• Local Transport Plan
• other development plans
• infrastructure/investment/building programmes
• Engage in meaningful consultation with
other relevant agencies, stakeholders and
implementation bodies, including minerals
industry and communities
• Use information from relevant bodies (eg. RAWP)
Guidance
• Planning Policy Guidance Note PPS12
• PPS12 confirms that delivery of the strategy is crucial
• original tests of soundness have been simplified,
but quality of evidence needed and rigorous nature
of examination remains the same
• Mineral Policy Guidance Note MPS1 and Practice
Guide
• Sets out detailed requirements for Minerals DPDs
• PAS web-based Plan-Making Manual
• PINS Guidance on Soundness and Procedure (2008)
• PINS Lessons Learnt (June 2007)
• Use these and other sources to draw up a checklist
against which the plan can be assessed before
publication
Checklist