Warwickshire Minerals Plan Second Publication Sustainability Appraisal Report Warwickshire County Council October 2018 Notice This document and its contents have been prepared and are intended solely as information for Warwickshire County Council and use in relation to Sustainability Appraisal of the Warwickshire Minerals Plan. Atkins Limited assumes no responsibility to any other party in respect of or arising out of or in connection with this document and/or its contents. Document history Purpose Revision description Originated Checked Reviewed Authorised Date Rev 1.0 Draft for WCC’s EC/CW PM CW PM 17/09/2018 comments Rev 2.0 Final for issue EC/CW PM CW PM 12/10/2018 Client signoff Client Warwickshire County Council Project Warwickshire Minerals Plan Second Publication Job number 5141082 Client signature / date Page 2 of 132 Contents Chapter Page Abbreviations 5 Non-Technical Summary 7 1. Introduction 28 1.1. Background 28 1.2. Warwickshire Minerals Plan 28 1.3. Requirement for Sustainability Appraisal 33 1.4. The Plan and SA Preparation Processes 33 1.5. Purpose of the SA Report 35 1.6. SA and Consultation 35 1.7. Habitat Regulations Assessment 35 2. Setting the scope of the SA 37 2.1. Spatial Scope 37 2.2. Temporal scope 37 2.3. Technical scope 37 3. Appraisal Methodology 39 3.1. Overview of Approach 39 3.2. Meeting the Requirements of the SEA Directive 40 3.3. Methodology 41 4. Identifying Other Plans and Programmes and Environmental Objectives 47 5. Baseline 53 5.1. Summary of Data Analysis 54 6. Key Issues and Opportunities 56 7. SA Framework 62 8. Testing the Plan Objectives against the SA Objectives 67 8.1. Introduction 67 9. Spatial Options Appraisal 70 9.1. Development of Spatial Options 70 9.2. Working Towards a Preferred Option 71 9.3. Conclusions 73 10. Assessment of Site Options 74 10.1. Identification of Sites Options 74 10.2. Results of Site Options Assessments 78 10.3. Conclusions & Recommendations 96 11. Assessment of Minerals Plan Second Publication 2018 97 11.1. Introduction 97 11.2. Changes to Policies 97 11.3. Site Allocation Policies Assessment 99 11.4. Core Strategy and Development Management Policies Assessment 112 12. Cumulative, Synergistic and Indirect Effects 122 13. Mitigation 124 14. Monitoring 126 15. Conclusions 130 16. References 131 Page 3 of 132 Tables Table 3-1 - Schedule of SEA Requirements 40 Table 3-2 - Key to Compatibility of Objectives 42 Table 3-3 - Magnitude of effect 42 Table 3-4 - Generic Assessment Scale 43 Table 3-5 - Scale of Significance 45 Table 4-1 - Relevant Plans, Policies or Programmes 47 Table 6-1 - Key Sustainability Issues 57 Table 7-1 - SA Framework 63 Table 8-1 - Key of objective compatibility 67 Table 8-2 - Compatibility Assessment of the April 2015 Mineral Plan Objectives and SA Objectives 68 Table 9-1 - Spatial Option 1 71 Table 9-2 - Spatial Option 2 72 Table 9-3 - Spatial Option 3 72 Table 9-4 - Spatial Option 3a 73 Table 10-1 - Sites options considered in the assessment 74 Table 10-2 - Generic assessment scale key 74 Table 10-3 - Site Options Summary Assessment 76 Table 11-1 - Site Allocation Policies 98 Table 11-2 - Core Strategy Policies 98 Table 11-3 - Development Management Policies 99 Table 11-4 - Summary of Assessment of Site Allocation Policies (Second Publication Document 2018) 107 Table 11-5 - Summary of Cumulative Assessment of Site Allocation Policies (Publication Document 2018) and existing Ling Hall quarry 110 Table 11-6 - SA Recommendations and WCC’s responses 113 Table 11-7 - Summary of Assessment of Core Strategy and Development Management Policies (as at August 2018) 118 Table 12-1 - Summary of Cumulative, Synergistic and Indirect Effects 122 Table 14-1 - Proposed Monitoring Programme 128 Figures Figure 1-1 - Plan and SA Preparation Processes 34 Figure 2-1 - Warwickshire Study Area showing Existing Minerals Sites 38 Figure 3-1 - Relationship between SA tasks 39 Page 4 of 132 Abbreviations Abbreviation Definition AMR Annual Monitoring Report AONB Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty AQMA Air Quality Management Area BAP Biodiversity Action Plan DCLG Department for Communities and Local Government DPD Development Plan Document EA Environment Agency ER Environmental Report ESDP European Spatial Development Perspective ESDS European Sustainable Development Strategy EU European Union HRA Habitat Regulations Assessment LAA Local Aggregate Assessment LBAP Local Biodiversity Action Plan LDP Local Development Plan LEP Local Enterprise Partnership LNR Local Nature Reserve LWS Local Wildlife Site MPA Mineral Planning Authority NERC Natural Environment and Rural Communities NNR National Nature Reserve NPPF National Planning Policy Framework ODPM Office of the Deputy Prime Minister PPC Pollution Prevention and Control PPP Plans, Programmes and Policies PROW Public Rights of Way SA Sustainability Appraisal SAC Special Area of Conservation SA Report Sustainability Appraisal Report SAM Scheduled Ancient Monument SCI Statement of Community Involvement SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SIAM Site Identification and Assessment Methodology SPA Special Protection Area Page 5 of 132 SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest SuDS Sustainable Drainage Systems UCG Underground Coal Gasification WCC Warwickshire County Council WFD Water Framework Directive Page 6 of 132 Warwickshire Minerals Plan Second Publication Non-Technical Summary Overview of Process and Purpose of Sustainability Appraisal Warwickshire County Council (WCC) is preparing a Minerals Plan that sets out the spatial strategy, vision, objectives and policies for guiding mineral development in Warwickshire for the period up to 2032. This document is the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) Report for the Warwickshire Minerals Plan Second Publication Document. The purpose of this SA Report is to outline how the requirements for Sustainability Appraisal (SA) arising from The Planning and Compulsory Act 2004 and the requirements for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) arising under European Directive 2001/42/EC ‘on the assessment of certain plans and programmes on the environment’ (the SEA Directive) have informed the development of the Minerals Plan. It records all the assessment work undertaken predicting and evaluating the effects of strategic options and preferred mineral development sites and policies. The Process Followed There are five stages (A to E) in the SA process. Stages A to C and part of Stage D, as described below, have been completed thus far: Stage A • Identifying other plans, programmes and sustainability objectives that inform and influence the development of the Minerals Plan; • Establishing an understanding of the social, environmental and economic conditions of Warwickshire (referred to as ‘the baseline’); • Identifying key sustainability issues in the County; • Outlining SA Objectives against which to later evaluate the Plan proposals; • Gathering consultation feedback on the proposed breadth of coverage and level of detail for the SA. Stage B • Assessing the Plan Objectives against the SA Objectives; • Assessing four options for mineral development in the County; • Completing an assessment of the preferred mineral development sites and Plan policies; • Identifying the cumulative, synergistic and indirect effects likely to arise as a result of the implementation of the Plan proposals; • Identifying appropriate mitigation to avoid predicted negative effects; and • Identifying a suitable monitoring programme. Stage C • Preparation of SA Report to accompany the Minerals Plan for consultation. Stage D • Preparation of revised SA Report taking on board consultation comments and changes to the Plan to accompany the Publication Minerals Plan for consultation. • Preparation of revised SA Report taking on board consultation comments and changes to the Plan to accompany the Second Publication Minerals Plan for consultation. Habitats Regulations Assessment The EU Habitats (92/43/EEC) and Birds (2009/147/EEC) Directives aim to protect European birds and species and the habitats that support them. In the UK, the Directives are implemented through the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. These are known as the Habitats Regulations. The legislation requires ‘competent authorities’ to undertake an ‘appropriate assessment’ of plans, projects and strategies that may have a significant effect on the site, if those plans, projects or strategies are not directly concerned with the management of the protected sites themselves. The process that includes the ‘appropriate assessment’ is known as a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA). Page 7 of 132 Warwickshire Minerals Plan Second Publication The HRA of the Minerals Plan is being undertaken as a separate exercise to this SA and a HRA Screening Report has been prepared and updated by WCC as the Minerals Plan developed. A Stage 1 screening of the HRA process was undertaken between June and September 2015 of the summer 2015 version of the Warwickshire Minerals Plan. Following a public consultation exercise between October 2015 to January 2016 a number of edits to the Minerals Plan were made following comments from Natural England in 2016. The final version of the Warwickshire Minerals Plan November 2016 was rescreened and a final HRA report produced in October 2016. The Warwickshire Minerals Plan then went out for consultation in December 2016 until February 2017. In 2018, WCC has undertaken a re-screen of the Second Publication Warwickshire Minerals Plan with a change in wording and removal of ‘preferred sites’. The re-screening exercise