Norfolk Minerals and Waste Local Plan Pre-Submission
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Norfolk Minerals and Waste Local Plan Minerals Site Specific Allocations Plan – Single Issue Silica Sand Review Pre-submission March 2016 www.norfolk.gov.uk Norfolk Minerals and Waste Local Plan Minerals Site Specific Allocations Plan – Single Issue Silica Sand Review Pre-submission March 2016 T. McCabe – Executive Director Community and Environmental Services Norfolk County Council Martineau Lane Norwich NR1 2SG www.norfolk.gov.uk If you would need this document in large print, audio, braille, an alternative format or a different language please contact Norfolk County Council on 0344 800 8020 or 0344 8008011 (textphone) and we will do our best to help. 1 Contents Page 1. Introduction 4 2. The process so far 7 3. Representation Procedure 11 4. What Happens Next 12 5. Amendments to the adopted Minerals Site Specific Allocations Plan 13 6. Allocated specific site and areas of search 19 Specific Site – SIL01 (Mintlyn South) 20 AOS A – land west of Snettisham, Ingoldisthorpe and Dersingham 24 AOS D – land in the vicinity of West Bilney Wood 27 AOS E – land to the north of Shouldham 30 AOS F – land to the north of Stow Bardolph 34 AOS I – land to the east of South Runcton 36 AOS J – land to the east of Tottenhill 38 7. Area of Search Policy 40 8. Glossary 42 2 Abbreviations AONB Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty AoS Area of Search CWS County Wildlife Site NPPF National Planning Policy Framework NPPG National Planning Practice Guidance SAC Special Area of Conservation SPA Special Protection Area SSA Site Specific Allocations SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest PRoW Public Right of Way 3 1. Introduction 1.1 Norfolk’s Minerals Site Specific Allocations Plan (Minerals SSA Plan), which was adopted by Norfolk County Council in October 2013, contains a requirement for a Silica Sand Review of the Plan to be completed by 2016. The function of this Pre-Submission document is to provide an opportunity for representations to be made on the legal compliance and soundness of on the Pre-submission version of the Norfolk Silica Sand Review of the Minerals Site Specific Allocations Plan, prior to its submission to the Secretary of State. 1.2 Sections 1 to 4 of this document provide an introduction to the Pre-Submission document and the Silica Sand Review process, including the representations procedure. These sections will not form part of the Minerals Site Specific Allocations Plan. 1.3 Section 5 of this document details modifications that are required to the adopted Minerals Site Specific Allocations Plan, to take into account the Silica Sand Review. Section 6 of this Pre-Submission document contains the specific site and areas of search to be allocated. Section 7 contains the Areas of Search Policy. Section 8 contains additional definitions for the glossary of the Minerals SSA Plan. The contents of sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 will therefore form part of the Minerals Site Specific Allocations Plan when they are adopted. 1.4 The purpose of the Silica Sand Review is to address a predicted shortfall, of 2.5 million tonnes, in the quantity of silica sand extraction sites allocated in the adopted Minerals SSA Plan. The table below shows the method for calculating the shortfall. The shortfall was explained in more detail in section 6 of the Preferred Options Consultation document. Requirement: Expected production of 750,000 tonnes per 9.00 million tonnes annum x 12 years (2015-2026) Silica sand reserve estimate at 31/12/2014 3.5 million tonnes Estimated resource in allocated site MIN 40 3.0 million tonnes Remaining shortfall 2.5 million tonnes The 2.5 million tonnes shortfall is equivalent to a need for less than 3.5 years’ additional supply over the period of the Core Strategy 1.5 The background to the Silica Sand Review, the review process, the need for silica sand extraction and its uses were detailed in Sections 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 of the Preferred Options Consultation document. The potential impacts of silica sand extraction and mitigation measures were detailed in section 8 of the Preferred Options Consultation document. 1.6 The Preferred Options Consultation document is available to view on Norfolk County Council’s website at: http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/Environment/Planning/Minerals_and_Waste_planning_policy/Cu rrent_Planning_Policy_Consultations/index.htm). 1.7 This Pre-Submission document is the third stage in the Silica Sand Review process. The Initial Consultation document, published in March 2015, gathered views on the proposed methodology and information required for the assessment of specific sites and areas of search. The Preferred Options Consultation document, published in November 2015, gathered views on the draft assessments of the specific site submitted and the initial 4 Areas of Search, which were defined by planning officers, based on the findings of the Initial Consultation. The subsequent stages are explained in the ‘what happens next’ section of this document. 1.8 The National Planning Practice Guidance (paragraphs 27-008/009) states that mineral planning authorities should plan for the steady and adequate supply of minerals in one or more of the following ways (in order of priority): a) designating Specific Sites – where viable mineral resources are known to exist, landowners are supportive of minerals development and the proposal is likely to be acceptable in planning terms. Such sites may also include essential operations associated with mineral extraction; b) designating Preferred Areas, which are areas of known mineral resources where planning permission might reasonably be anticipated. Such areas may also include essential operations associated with mineral extraction; and/or c) designating Areas of Search – areas where knowledge of mineral resources may be less certain but within which planning permission may be granted, particularly if there is a potential shortfall in supply. 1.9 Designating specific sites in minerals plans provides the most certainty on when and where development may take place. The better the quality of data available to Mineral Planning Authorities, the better the prospect of a site being designated as a Specific Site. 1.10 The Pre-Submission document contains one specific site (SIL01) for silica sand extraction, proposed by Sibelco UK in response to the ‘call for sites’; which was held during June 2015. This specific site is at Bawsey and is estimated, by Sibelco UK, to have a mineral resource of 1.2 million tonnes. An assessment of the site is included in this document along with policy wording. 1.11 The mineral resource in site SIL01 is not enough to meet the silica sand shortfall on its own and planning officers have therefore defined areas of search to meet the shortfall. The areas of search are large areas within which planning permission for silica sand extraction may be granted on a smaller area of land. The approach to be taken in defining areas of search for silica sand extraction formed part of the Initial Consultation and further details on how the areas of search have been defined were included in Section 9 of the Preferred Options Consultation document. 1.12 The Preferred Options Consultation document included the initial assessments of the ten potential areas of search which were identified. The Pre-Submission document proposes the inclusion of six of these Areas of Search into the Mineral Site Specific Allocations Plan. A new section in the Minerals SSA Plan is proposed which would include maps and Policy wording for each area of search. The areas of search in Pre-submission document are as follows: Reference Size (hectares) Parish Preferred Pre- Options Submission AOS A 548 328 Ingoldisthorpe, Snettisham, Dersingham AOS D 142 109 East Winch, Pentney AOS E 979 816 Wormegay, Shouldham, Marham, Shouldham Thorpe AOS F 234 61 Runcton Holme, Stow Bardolph AOS I 52 47 Runcton Holme, Shouldham Thorpe, Tottenhill AOS J 24 23 Tottenhill, Wormegay Total size 2,347 1,384 5 1.13 The total size of all the areas of search included in the Pre-submission document is 1,384 hectares. It is estimated that approximately 40 hectares of land in total, from within the areas of search and/or specific site would need to be developed for silica sand extraction during the plan period to 2026. The specific site and six areas of search to be included in the Minerals SSA Plan will address the identified shortfall for planned silica sand extraction for the plan period to 2026. 1.14 As stated above, the defined areas of search contained in this Pre-submission document cover a significantly larger area than is required for silica sand extraction over the plan period to 2026. This situation is to be expected due to the purpose and definition of areas of search. 1.15 The boundaries of all of the areas of search contained in the Pre-Submission document have been amended since the Preferred Options consultation. Some areas of search have been amended simply to remove small pieces of land which were separated from the main area of search by a road. Other areas of search have been amended to address significant constraints, as highlighted in the area of search assessments contained in the Preferred Options Consultation document. 1.16 Based on the information available through the Silica Sand Review process, a decision has been made to not take forward AOS B and AOS C due to a number of constraints, including potential landscape and ecology impacts, as detailed in the Preferred Options Consultation document. In addition, AOS G and AOS H have not been included in the Pre-Submission document. 1.17 An existing permitted silica sand extraction site is located within part of AOS G. Once the land within the existing mineral working has been removed from AOS G, the remaining proportion of AOS G is only 13 hectares.