West Sussex Minerals Development Plan Document: Issues and Options November 2005 Executive Summary Introduction (Section 1) The County Council is responsible for preparing statutory land-use planning policies and for determining applications for minerals development against those policies. The adopted West Sussex Minerals Local Plan (MLP) sets out a detailed planning policy framework to ensure the supply of minerals to 2006 although the policy framework has a longer timeframe. The West Sussex Minerals Development Plan Document (MDPD – the "Plan") will be prepared to replace the adopted MLP. The preparation of the MDPD, which is likely to cover the period to 2018, will enable the policies and proposals in the MLP to be reviewed. The MDPD will clearly set out the core strategy including a county-wide vision, measurable objectives, and a coherent strategy for minerals planning; generic criteria-based development control policies against which proposals for minerals development will be judged; criteria-based policies which deal with specific types of minerals development; and site-specific allocations to ensure the provision of sufficient minerals. A sustainability appraisal (SA) of the Plan will be required to inform the preparation of its strategy, policies, and allocations by considering the potential sustainability effects of options. The SA will be an integrated part of the plan-making process and meet the requirements of the EU Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive. Plan Process (Section 2) Technical work has been undertaken to compile the evidence base that will underpin the preparation of the MDPD and inform the SA before any decisions are made about the first draft of the Plan (the 'Preferred Option') including its strategy, policies, and site-specific proposals. This consultation paper has been prepared focussing on the key issues to be addressed by the Plan and the reasonable options available to the County Council in considering those issues. Views are welcomed (preferably as answers to the questions) although comments are welcomed on any issue related to the review of the MLP and the preparation of the new plan. Comments must be made by 5.00pm on 23 December 2005. Following consideration of representations, work will start on the preparation of the first draft of the Plan – the Preferred Option. Following approval by County Council, the Preferred Option will be published for a six-week period of public consultation in June-July 2006. Comments received on the Preferred Option will be considered and taken into account in revising the document before it is submitted to the Government and subject to a six-week consultation period. Comments will be considered by an independent Inspector as part of their public examination of the ‘soundness’ of the document. The Inspector will then produce a binding report which will specify the changes to be made to the Plan. The County Council will be required to amend the draft Plan as recommended by the Inspector before it is formally adopted when it will supersede the adopted MLP. Context (Section 3) West Sussex has a diverse geology that is fundamental to the appearance and use of land. It has deposits of minerals such as sand, gravel, sandstone, chalk, clay, and oil i West Sussex Minerals Development Plan Document: Issues and Options November 2005 which are important natural resources essential in the production of many goods and services. The wide range of minerals obtained by quarrying into these natural deposits is augmented by supplies of marine-dredged and other imported materials currently landed at seaports, and by crushed rock delivered to rail aggregate depots. National policies for minerals planning in England are set out in Minerals Planning Guidance Notes (MPG) which are being replaced by Mineral Policy Statements (MPS). Minerals has a number of special characteristics: they can only be worked where they naturally occur; working is a temporary use of land; working often has adverse environmental effects; and land should be restored to a beneficial after-use. The Regional Minerals Strategy (RMS) is being prepared to set out a regional framework up to 2016 for the development of minerals. The RMS is needed to replace a set of old and obsolete targets and policies which were published in 1994 and will replace Chapter 11 of the existing Regional Planning guidance for the South East (RPG9). Proposed Changes to the RMS were published in August 2005. The adopted West Sussex Structure Plan 2001-2016 aims to meet the need to maintain supplies of minerals whilst ensuring that their extraction can be sustained as long as is necessary and does not harm the environment (Policy ERA6). Draft Strategy, Vision, Aims, and Objectives (Section 4) The core strategy will set out the key elements of the minerals planning framework for West Sussex. It will include a spatial vision and strategic objectives; a spatial strategy; core policies; and a monitoring and implementation framework. It is too early at this stage, however, to identify a draft spatial strategy as this will evolve from consideration of the issues and options. It is too early to devise a spatial vision as minerals can be extracted only where they are found and many of the issues and options address these spatial matters. Views are sought on draft aims and objectives. Policy Topics (Section 5) The preparation of the new Plan provides the opportunity to review and consolidate the policies in the adopted MLP. Views are sought on the need or otherwise to amend the current policy framework in the MLP. It is envisaged that the Plan will follow a similar structure and format to the draft Waste Local Plan Revised Deposit Draft; views are sought on a provisional list of policy topics. Key Issues and Options (Section 6) Strategic issues are addressed including the plan period (Issue A) and the treatment of the Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the proposed South Downs National Park (Issue B). The provision of sand and gravel is considered including production levels (Issue C), meeting future needs (Issue D), maintaining a landbank of sites with planning permissions (Issue E), future levels of production (Issue F), and areas for future working (Issue G). Other minerals are considered including secondary aggregates (Issue H), clay (Issue I), sandstone (Issue J), and chalk (Issue K). Site selection issues are addressed including the merits of extensions v new sites (Issue L), cumulative impact (Issue N), and site size (Issue O). Policy issues are ii West Sussex Minerals Development Plan Document: Issues and Options November 2005 considered including safeguarding resources (Issue P), restoration and after-use (Issue Q), rail depots and wharves (Issue R), and processing of extracted minerals (Issue S). Potential Sand and Gravel Sites (Section 7) Subject to the need for new sand and gravel sites, the County Council is required to consider all the sites that could reasonably be considered for minerals development. A provisional list of 51 potential sites has been compiled and preliminary consultation undertaken with internal and external consultees (including the relevant parish councils and local community groups). The list of potential sites includes the unimplemented allocations in the MLP, sites that were previously considered during the preparation of the MLP, and new sites that have come forward so far. The potential sites have been considered against site selection criteria including consideration of the comments received on the potential sites from the consultees. A preliminary assessment has been made of how each site measures up against the broad criteria, categorised as either acceptable; acceptable provided that certain (specified) actions are undertaken; or not acceptable in principle. An overall conclusion has been reached about each site. A provisional shortlist of 18 sites has been identified at this stage. All current allocations in the MLP have been shortlisted as it is necessary to subject them to more detailed reassessment: they account for eight sites on the shortlist. The ten new sites have been shortlisted as there are no overriding 'in principle' objections at this stage to their inclusion: five of these sites are potential extensions to existing workings which have potentially less impact than new sites. All the potential sites to the south and east of Chichester (with the exception of the existing allocation at Kingsham) have not been shortlisted due to the need for a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) of the potential impact of mineral working as recommended by the Environment Agency. The shortlist will be revised, if necessary, by the addition or deletion of sites following consideration of the representations received on this paper. Work will start in early 2006 on the preparation of the Preferred Option draft of the Plan which will include proposed allocations taken from the finalised shortlist, if any are required to meet identified need. No decision has been made at this stage about potential allocations. More detailed analysis of the shortlisted sites against the criteria will be undertaken to identify those that should go forward as potential allocations. Shortlisted sites that are considered acceptable at this stage, may not be considered acceptable following more detailed assessment. iii West Sussex Minerals Development Plan Document: Issues and Options November 2005 iv West Sussex Minerals Development Plan Document: Issues and Options November 2005 Contents Page No.