New Minerals Plan about to issue

New proposals to guide the future of minerals extraction in Nottinghamshire up to 2036 have been developed by the County Council in its capacity as the Minerals Planning Authority.

This includes potential sites for new quarries in the county along with planning policies against which any planning applications for minerals extraction, will be assessed and determined by the County Council.

The new proposals are contained in the Draft Nottinghamshire Minerals Plan consultation document which were considered by County Councillors at the July meeting of the Communities and Place Committee (19 July 2018).

The Draft Plan has taken account of minerals sales data covering the latest 10 year period as a basis for future provision in Nottinghamshire. For sand and gravel this now means providing for 1.7 million tonnes per annum compared to 2.6 million tonnes when older sales data was used. As a result, fewer sand and gravel quarries are being proposed than was previously the case. A small number of sites for extraction of Sherwood Sandstone, brick clay and gypsum are also proposed.

The Draft Minerals Plan, due to be published in July, recommends extending seven existing quarries at:

Bawtry Road Quarry, Scrooby, Bassetlaw. (Sand and gravel)
Scrooby Quarry, Scrooby, Bassetlaw. (Sand and gravel)
Langford Lowfields Quarry, near Collingham, Newark and Sherwood. (Sand and gravel)
East Leake Quarry, Rushcliffe. (Sand and gravel)
Bestwood II. (Sherwood Sandstone)
Scrooby Top. (Sherwood Sandstone)
Bantycock Quarry. (Gypsum)

And allocating three new quarries at:

Botany Bay, near Barnby Moor, Bassetlaw. (Sand and gravel)
Mill Hill, near Barton in Fabis, Rushcliffe.(Sand and gravel)
Woodborough Lane, Gedling. (Clay)

The detail of these proposals will be published shortly and interested parties such as CPRE Notts will be able to provide feedback, which should be used to shape the final Minerals Plan document. Further consultation and an Independent Examination will follow. Any site allocations identified in the Minerals Local Plan would still require a detailed planning application to be submitted and approved before any work could commence.

The Minerals Local Plan is a statutory document, which all Minerals Planning Authorities, like Nottinghamshire County Council, are legally required to produce.

CPRE Notts will be considering these proposals and welcome any comments from our members and others.