Hampshire Minerals Plan

...will identify the locations needed to deliver the mineral and landfill requirements of the Core Strategy.

The draft Hampshire Minerals Plan

What's going on now?

The South East Plan policy on aggregates aims to provide and maintain a sufficent regional supply, 'the apportionment' of sand, gravel and crushed rock. This policy was subject to an Examination-in-Public (EiP) of Policy M3 in October 2009 and the findings, shown in the Panel Report, was submitted to the Secretary of State on 27 November 2009. The Panel Report suggests the apportionment in the South East should reduce from 13.25 to 11.12 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and Hampshire's share would be 2.05mtpa (down from 2.63mtpa - as shown in Policy S8 of the Core Strategy).

What's about to happen?

The Government Office for the South East (GOSE) will now prepare the Secretary of State’s Proposed Changes to Policy M3 for public consultation in 2010. The County Council has resolved to continue its fight for a lower apportionment level. View the Press Release.

Previous Work

The Policy M3 in The South East Plan on primary aggregates aims to provide and maintain a sufficent regional supply, 'the apportionment' of sand, gravel and crushed rock. This policy has been subject to review and as part of this, an Examination-in-Public (EiP) of Policy M3 was held between 6-8 October 2009. A revised policy and overall South East provision of 9.01mtpa was proposed by South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA). In the Examination, a Panel chaired by a Planning Inspector heard verbal statements supporting evidence (in the form of previously submitted written 'statements') put forward by the new regional planning body (the South East England Partnership Board), many of the mineral planning authorities and industry representatives.

The Hampshire Minerals Plan is being prepared by the minerals and waste planning authorities. It is part of a series of Mineral and Waste Local Development Documents that will form the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Development Framework and will cover the period to 2020. The contents of the Hampshire Minerals Plan include the following:

• Policies and plans for specific sites and locations for mineral development including:
     sand and gravel extraction and clay ‘areas of search’,
     rail depots and wharves for the importation of aggregate,
     sites for the manufacture of recycled and secondary aggregates
     landfill

• Safeguarding areas around and including existing and proposed development.

• Mineral Safeguarding Areas for future sand and gravel extraction.

Sand and gravel are essential components for the construction and repair of homes, schools, hospitals, commercial and manufacturing premises and roads.

Hampshire County Council and its partners are required by Government to identify land so that sufficient sand and gravel can be produced locally. It also has to identify locations for clay extraction, rail depots and wharves to import aggregate, facilities for the recycling of aggregates and areas suitable for landfill.

Sites that have been identified in the Plan are determined by the geology of Hampshire and only 18% of the area contains sand and gravel. Constraints such as nearby homes, accessibility and environmental designations limit this resource even further. It is also important that local sources are extracted so that sand and gravel is not needlessly transported long distances.

For further information on minerals, view the Minerals - Questions & Answers.

In support of the draft Hampshire Minerals Plan there are a number of Supporting Documents which you may wish to view.

The areas were put to the County Council’s Cabinet at a meeting on 23 June 2008 and were then debated at the Hampshire County Council meeting on 10 July 2008. For more information, please see the Council Report and Decision. These areas were also placed before our partners Member's for further consideration.

For a timeline of the work undertaken so far, please view Previous Minerals Plan Work