Proposed Mineral Extraction Sites 104 Breckland Sites Map of proposed sites in Beetley (MIN 08, MIN 12, MIN 13, MIN 51) MIN 12 - land north of Chapel Lane, Beetley Site Characteristics • The 16.38 hectare site is within the parish of Beetley • The estimated sand and gravel resource at the site is 1,175,000 tonnes • The proposer of the site has given a potential start date of 2025 and estimated the extraction rate to be 80,000 tonnes per annum. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted within 15 years, therefore approximately 960,000 tonnes could be extracted within the plan period. • The site is proposed by Middleton Aggregates Ltd as an extension to an existing site. • The site is currently in agricultural use and the Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being Grade 3. • The site is 3.7km from Dereham and 12km from Fakenham, which are the nearest towns. • A reduced extraction area has been proposed of 14.9 hectares, which creates standoff areas to the south west of the site nearest to the buildings on Chapel Lane, and to the north west of the site nearest the dwellings on Church Lane. Amenity: The nearest residential property is 11m from the site boundary. There are 21 sensitive receptors within 250m of the site boundary. The settlement of Beetley is 260m away and Old Beetley is 380m away. However, land at the north-west and south-west corners is not proposed to be extracted. Therefore the nearest residential property is 96m from the extraction area and there are 18 sensitive receptors within 250m of the proposed extraction area. Even without mitigation, 105 adverse dust impacts from sand and gravel sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts. Highway access: The site would access the existing plant site on the land to the north of Rawhall Lane via an extension to the existing conveyor. From the plant site the existing site access would be used onto Rawhall Lane east to the junction with the B1146 Fakenham Road, which is a designated lorry route. The site is not within an AQMA. As a proposed extension to an existing site, the number of vehicle movements is expected to remain the same but continue for a longer period. The estimated number of HGV movements is 30 (in and out) per day. The proposed highway access is considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority. Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is Twentieth Century agriculture with boundary loss. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of Twentieth Century agriculture with enclosure and boundary loss, agriculture with 18th to 19th Century enclosure, and enclosed wetland meadows. The wider historic landscape character also includes 18th to 20th Century woodland plantation, mineral extraction and leisure/recreation. The nearest Listed building is 460m away and is the Grade I Church of St Mary Magdalen. There are 14 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site. The only Scheduled Monument within 2km of the site is 1.57km away and is the ‘Moated site 280m south east of Spong Bridge’. There are no Conservation Areas or Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Heritage Statement to identify heritage assets and their settings, assess the potential for impacts and identify appropriate mitigation measures if required. Archaeology: There are no Historic Environment records within the site boundary, however this may just be due to a lack of investigations. The site is in a wider landscape with a significant number of finds and features from multiple periods, and the site is immediately north of the remains of a Roman road. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological deposits will be required at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching. Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The site comprises open arable land with few landscape features apart from boundary hedgerow. The site lies close to the boundaries of the landscape character areas described as ‘Beeston Plateau Farmland’ and ‘River Nar Tributary Farmland’ in the Breckland Landscape Character Assessment. It lies within a wider area of open arable landscape punctuated with hedgerow oaks and small areas of woodland. Immediately to the north of the site is an existing permitted mineral extraction site, which formed part of the adopted allocation site MIN 10, of which MIN 12 was part. The site is generally well screened from views from surrounding roads and property, although views of the site would be seen from Field Lane, a road used as a public path which bounds the site to the north. In addition, the southern part of the site is slightly elevated and may be visible in a long view from public paths crossing land to the north of the Whitewater valley. The site would be relatively easy to screen from the views from Field Lane, although attention would need to be given to screening views from the north. A low level restoration scheme with appropriate margins, gradients and land use could be acceptable in this plateau arable landscape, and this is what has been proposed. There are no Public Rights of Way within or adjacent to the site. Ecology: The site is 3.47km from the River Wensum SAC and is outside the Impact Risk Zone for the River Wensum SSSI. Due to this distance, no impacts on this SAC are expected. 106 Beetley and Hoe Meadows SSSI is 1.16km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the valley site represents one of the finest remaining areas of wet unimproved grassland in Norfolk which is species-rich and includes several locally uncommon plants. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and is located up-gradient of the SSSI. Therefore the SSSI would not be adversely affected. Dillington Carr, Gressenhall SSSI is 1.44km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the site is an extensive area of carr woodland and open water occupying the valley floor and sides of a small tributary of the River Wensum. The site also includes extensive stands of the nationally rare lowland bird cherry-alder woodland. Irrigation reservoirs have been created within the carr which support an outstanding assemblage of freshwater breeding birds, including several uncommon species. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and is located up-gradient of the SSSI. Therefore the SSSI would not be adversely affected. The nearest County Wildlife Site is CWS 1027 ‘Gressenhall Green Marshes’ which is 730m from the site boundary. The CWS is a mosaic of predominantly unmanaged broad-leaved semi-natural woodland, scrub, hedgerows, ditches and marshy grassland. Due to the distance from the CWS there would be no impacts from dust deposition. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore the County Wildlife Site would not be adversely affected. The nearest ancient woodland site is Great Wood which is a Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS) and Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW); it is 1.28km from the site boundary. Due to the distance from the ancient woodland there would be no impacts from dust deposition. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore the ancient woodland would not be adversely affected. Geodiversity: The site consists of the Briton’s Lane sand and gravel member, overlying chalk formations. The Briton’s Lane sands and gravels are known to contain priority features such as palaesols and erratics in other locations, and therefore they may occur on this site. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application. It would be useful to retain some open faces for scientific study during operational stages, and ideally after restoration, and have a ‘watching brief’ during the extraction phase in case features of potential geodiversity interest are uncovered. Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) for flooding from rivers. No areas of the site are at risk of flooding from surface water. The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area. Hydrogeology: The site is located over a secondary A aquifer (superficial deposits) and a principal aquifer (bedrock). The site is within groundwater Source Protection Zone 3. The site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore no effect on water resources is expected. Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 1km from the Blackwater and 1.2km from Wendling Beck, which are the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbodies. The groundwater level in this area is several metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards the Blackwater or Wendling Beck. MIN 12 and the existing processing plant, which the sand and gravel could be transported to by conveyor, are both located north of Wendling Beck and south of the Blackwater.