Durham County Council County Durham Local Development Framework Technical Consultation Report Identifying Mineral Safeguarding Areas & Safeguarding Mineral handling, Processing and Transportation Infrastructure in County Durham Publication date: 10 July 2009 Contents Page 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 How to comment? 3 3.0 Background Information 3 What are Mineral Safeguarding Areas? 4 How do MSAs relate to existing Mineral Consultation Areas? 4 What approach has been taken in Neighbouring Local Authority areas? 5 4.0 Consultation Questions 6 What information should we use to define Mineral Safeguarding Areas? 6 Refining the boundaries 6 What minerals found in County Durham are or may become of economic 8 importance? Vein Minerals 9 5.0 Proposed Approach to safeguarding economically important 9 minerals. Magnesian Limestone and Dolomite. 10 Carboniferous Limestone. 14 Igneous Rock (Dolerite) 17 Sand and Gravel (Fluvial and Glacial) 19 Permian Yellow Sands (Basal Permian Sands) 23 Silica Sand (Moulding Sand) 24 Natural Building and Roofing Stone 26 Brick making raw materials 28 Coal (opencast coal) 31 6.0 Other matters. 34 Safeguarding railheads, wharfage and associated storage, handling, 34 processing facilities for the bulk transport of minerals Concrete batching, the manufacture of coated materials, other concrete 35 products List of Figures Figure 1 Magnesian Limestone 10 Figure 2 Magnesian Limestone Options 12 Figure 3 Minerals Local Plan - High Grade Dolomite Reserve 13 Figure 4 Carboniferous limestone 14 Figure 5 Carboniferous Limestone Options 15 Figure 6 Igneous 17 Figure 7 Igneous Options 18 Figure 8 Sand and gravel 19 Figure 9 Sand and Gravel Option A 21 Figure 10 Sand and Gravel Option B 21 Figure 11 Sand and Gravel Option C 22 Figure 12 Permian Yellow Sands Options 24 Figure 13 Silica Sand Options 25 Figure 14 Namurian Sandstone in County Durham 26 Figure 15 Natural Building and Roofing Stone Sites in County Durham 28 Figure 16 Brick Making Options 30 Figure 17 Principal and Subsidiary Coal Resource Areas 31 Figure 18 Open Cast Coal Option A 33 Figure 19 Open Cast Coal Option B 33 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 This reporti has been prepared in order to consult key minerals related stakeholders on our approach to safeguarding: 1. economically important minerals, (see section 3 to 5); 2. existing, planned and potential railheads, wharfage and associated storage, handling, processing facilities for the bulk transport of minerals (see section 6); and 3. existing, planned and potential sites (including rail and water served) for concrete batching, the manufacture of coated materials, other concrete products and the handling, processing and distribution of substitute, recycled and secondary aggregate material, (see section 6). The safeguarding of mineral resources and these mineral transport, processing and handling facilities are a key requirement of Minerals Policy Statement 1 (MPS1) ‘Planning and Minerals’ (paragraph 13 of MPS1). In addition the report specifically requests that the minerals industry and other interested parties provide information to help the Council to identify and refine the boundaries of minerals safeguarding areas (MSAs). 1.2 Given the specialist nature of this subject the consultation report is being targeted at the minerals industry and their trade organisations. However, once draft MSAs and other safeguarded facilities have been identified in association with the minerals industry, wider consultation will occur. Please note as a technical consultation report, the report unavoidably contains detailed technical information relating to the geology of County Durham and both current and historic mineral working. 2.0 HOW TO COMMENT? 2.1 Comments and suggestions relating to our approach to minerals safeguarding and which areas should be safeguarded can be made by letter to the address below, or by email to: [email protected]. Our postal address where responses should be sent to is: Minerals Safeguarding Areas’ Consultation Planning Policy Team, Room 4/121 Regeneration and Economic Development Durham County Council County Hall Durham DH1 5UQ 2.2 We would welcome your comments by no later than Friday 11 September 2009. 2.3 If you wish to discuss this matter or arrange a meeting with planning officers, please contact either Jason McKewon (0191 383 3071) or Rick Long (0191 383 3774). 3.0 BACKGROUND INFORMATION 3.1 From the 1 April 2009 a new Unitary Council was created for County Durham. The new Unitary Durham County Council is required to prepare a county-wide Local Development Framework (LDF). The new LDF will include a number of spatial planning documents, including a Core Strategy Development Plan Document (DPD), which will set out the i Please note a significant proportion of the information in this consultation report draws directly from the British Geological Survey (BGS) report, ‘Mineral Resource Information for Development Plans ‘Durham and the Tees Valley: Resources and Constraints’, Technical Report WF/00/6, British Geological Survey/Department of Environment Transport and Regions, 2000. 3 Council's spatial planning policies and proposals for all types of development including minerals and waste. What are Mineral Safeguarding Areas? 3.2 MSAs are a new planning designation which must be identified and included on Local Development Framework (LDF) Proposals Maps. The intent of MSAs is to safeguard proven deposits of minerals which are, or may become of economic importance within the foreseeable future, from unnecessary sterilisation by surface development. Unlike other mineral planning designations which allocate land for development i.e. Site Specific Allocations, Preferred Areas or Areas of Search, where there is a varying degree of presumption that extraction may be appropriate, Government guidance is clear that there is no presumption that resources defined in MSAs will be worked. 3.3 It is very important that the minerals industry and their trade organisations are involved and provide their views on how MSAs are designated. This is because, once they are designated MSAs will enable safeguarding to be a material consideration and provide land which does not have planning permission for mineral working, but which is underlain with economically important mineral resources, some protection from sterilisation. Similarly, where MSAs are designated around existing mineral sites or potential mineral site allocations, safeguarding will be a material consideration with the presumption being that such areas should be protected from sterilisation. 3.4 Government guidance states that new planning documents should not normally include policies and proposals for non-minerals development e.g. new residential development, in MSAs, or other sensitive developments around safeguarded mineral areas, where such policies would affect the potential for future extraction of minerals. However, it may be appropriate to develop policies for prior extraction of minerals, where practicable, within safeguarded areas: for example extraction before non-mineral development takes place subject to safeguards to protect the environment and amenity of local communities. This is the current approach of the County Durham Minerals Local Plan, (see Policy M15 of the County Durham Minerals Local Plan). How do MSA’s relate to existing Mineral Consultation Areas? 3.5 Mineral Consultation Areas (MCAs) have previously been designated by the County Council in the adopted County Durham Minerals Local Plan (December 2000). The current MCA's provide a mechanism which allowed the former District Councils to consult the County Council on certain types of planning applications for non-mineral developments within the boundary of a MCA, and which would be likely to affect the winning and working of minerals. 3.6 Once defined and shown on the Council’s new LDF proposals map, MSAs will replace the MCAs in the existing Minerals Local Plan. Further information on MSAs and MCAs is set out in • Minerals Policy Statement 1 (MPS1) 'Planning & Minerals (CLG), November 2006, • Planning and Minerals Practice Guide (CLG), November 2006; and • A Guide to Minerals Safeguarding in England, British Geological Survey/CLG, October 2007. 4 What approach has been taken in neighbouring Local Authority Areas? 3.7 Before considering the County Council’s emerging approach it may be useful to consider the scope of progress in adjoining planning authorities. To date very limited work has been undertaken by other planning authorities in the North East of England. Only Northumberland County Council has progressed MSAs to an advanced stage. The Northumberland County Council Minerals and Waste Development Plan Documents which were submitted to the Secretary of State in June 2007 included extensive MSAs for whinstone, sand and gravel, limestone and coal (with associated clays). Unfortunately, these areas have not progressed beyond the submission stage due to the withdrawal of these documents on grounds unrelated to safeguarding prior to the planned Examination. Further work on MSAs is planned by Northumberland County Council during 2009. 3.8 In terms of the Tyne & Wear Unitary authorities the most advanced work on MSAs is by Sunderland City Council. The City Council’s Core Strategy Preferred Options Report (December 2007) included a policy on MSAs (CS18). This policy indicated that MSAs will be defined around mineral deposits that are considered to be of current or future economic importance in the broad locations of Eppleton, Great Eppleton, Pittington Hill and Springwell