Planning and Development

Hampshire Minerals Plan

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,
       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. The Council thinks that only a level of 1.82 mtpa is justified by sales trends and the impact a higher level of provision would have, and this is what the Plan provides for.

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 and were then debated at the Hampshire County Council meeting on 10 July. For more information, please see the Council Report and Decision. These areas will also be placed before our partners Member's for further consideration.

The next version of the Plan (with minor amendments) is scheduled for publication in September/October 2008 and the public will be invited to make representations on whether they consider it to be “sound”, that is, properly justified and appropriate when compared with reasonable alternatives. Early in 2009, the County Council will submit the Plan, together with the representations that have been made, to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The Secretary of State will appoint an independent inspector to consider the “soundness” of the Plan in the light of the representations, including a public hearing later next year. After that, the inspector’s findings will be binding on the Council and its partners.

SEERA (South East England Regional Assembly) is consulting on the amount of minerals each authority is required to extract (Hampshire’s apportionment or allocation). Hampshire County Council believes that Hampshire does not need as much sand and gravel as currently required by Government - see the Leader of the Council's previous statement (on 10/04/08). The CounciI will therefore be lobbying SEERA to reduce Hampshire’s apportionment in line with Option D (Environmental). If you would like to have your say in our response to SEERA then please take part in our Sand & Gravel Apportionment poll.

If you would like to comment directly to SEERA in their consultation or wish to find out more, please see the SEERA consultation.