SOMERSET COUNTY COUNCIL Minerals and Waste Annual Monitoring Report 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 This Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Section 35 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended by the Localism Act 2011) and to satisfy the requirement of the EU Waste Framework Directive, 2008 (2008/98/EC) (transposed through the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011) to provide details (including capacity) of existing, newly granted and recently closed waste facilities. Contents 1. What is the AMR? .................................................................................................................... 2 2. Minerals and waste policy in Somerset ................................................................................... 3 3. What is happening in Somerset (contextual indicators)? ....................................................... 3 3.1 Mineral production ................................................................................................................. 4 3.2 Waste production ................................................................................................................... 7 3.3 Ecology .................................................................................................................................. 14 4. The planning process ............................................................................................................. 15 4.1 Minerals and waste planning in Somerset ........................................................................... 15 4.2 Minerals and Waste Development Scheme timetable ........................................................ 16 4.3 Minerals policy use ............................................................................................................... 17 4.4 Waste policy use ................................................................................................................... 20 4.5 Meeting the Waste Core Strategy and Minerals Local Plan objectives .............................. 21 4.6 Duty to Cooperate ................................................................................................................ 25 5. Summary of findings .............................................................................................................. 26 6. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 27 Appendix 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 21 Appendix 2 ............................................................................................................................................ 31 Appendix 3 ............................................................................................................................................ 32 Appendix 4 ............................................................................................................................................ 54 Appendix 5 ............................................................................................................................................ 60 1 1. What is the AMR? This Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) reviews minerals and waste operations and activities for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 and: Sets out key trends and developments for minerals and waste in Somerset, including: how much mineral we have and how much has been extracted; and how much waste has been managed and in what way; and Looks at how minerals and waste policy has been used and whether objectives from Somerset’s minerals and waste plans have been met. This is the eleventh year of monitoring and the second year of monitoring the Waste Core Strategy (adopted February 2013). The new Minerals Plan was adopted in February 2015 and this AMR continues with the new structure introduced for last year’s AMR, to take into account new monitoring indicators and best practice guidance on AMRs. The focus for the AMR, under this new structure, is on determining how well the Waste Core Strategy and Minerals Plan objectives are being met. Previous AMRs were focused on how well the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) objectives were being met. The SAs remain an integral part of the monitoring process, as they have informed and influenced the monitoring objectives and indicators of the Waste Core Strategy and Minerals Local Plan. Appendices 1 and 2 set out how the SA objectives and plan objectives fit together, and ultimately are met. This AMR acknowledges a period of transition for monitoring minerals policy. Although the new Minerals Plan has been adopted, its first year of monitoring will be 2015/16. Anticipating this change, this AMR monitors against the objectives of the new Minerals Plan. 2 2. Minerals and waste policy in Somerset Somerset County Council (Local Planning Authority for Minerals and Waste) Required to produce planning policy for minerals and waste: the Minerals and Waste Development Framework This provides support and guidance industry and local communities. Waste Core Strategy Minerals Plan (Adopted February 2013) (Adopted February 2015) To encourage the To manage resources development of appropriately and protect appropriate management Somerset’s unique techniques and facilities to environment divert waste from landfill Figure 1 3. What is happening in Somerset (contextual indicators)? Contextual indicators help to provide a picture of the Somerset area, against which the monitoring indicators can be interpreted. Somerset is a predominantly rural county, with the majority of the population living in small communities. West Somerset and South Somerset are characterised by more sparse populations with 66.5% and 63.5% of residents in those areas living in rural areas.1 1 Urban and rural definitions as classified by the ONS Rural‐Urban Classifications 2011. 3 The total estimated population in Somerset in 2014 was 541,0692 , this is an increase from the 2013 figure of 531,104; and The GVA per full‐time equivalent job at 2010 prices, £42,787. 3.1 Mineral production The minerals industry is of considerable economic importance to the Somerset economy and in 2014 Somerset County Council commissioned a project to investigate the benefits of quarrying to the Somerset economy. The report can be found via the following link: www.somerset.gov.uk/mineralsandwaste. Based on information received through the accompanying survey, the minimum total annual production of extracted stone (including aggregates, building stone and masonry products) and quarry products (including cement and coated materials such as asphalt) is estimated to be 12.6 million tonnes. The overall annual turnover of Quarrying and Related Activities (across the four sectors) is approximately £209.2 million, with a Gross Value Added of between £56 million and £74 million. This compares well with National Statistics data for GVA of mining and quarrying in Somerset and Dorset for 2010 of £85 million. Benefits of quarrying to the Somerset economy (£million) 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Aggregates Quarry Products Building Stone Stonemasonry (£145m) (£57m) (£1.2m‐£1.9m) (£1.1m) Figure 2 Based on the questionnaire responses received, it is estimated that the quarrying industry and related activities in Somerset directly employ 1045 Full‐time Equivalent (FTE) employees. Representatives of both the Aggregates and Quarry Products sectors noted the potential growth opportunities offered by major construction projects within Somerset, specifically development at Hinkley C Nuclear New Build and associated infrastructure projects. Opportunities may be regarded as direct (i.e.as a result of orders related to Hinkley C Nuclear 2 Based on the ONS 2013 mid‐year estimates. 4 New Build) or indirect (i.e. as a result of space created within the market as other operators focus on involvement with Hinkley C Nuclear New Build and associated infrastructure projects). Building stone As identified in the Minerals Topic Paper 2: Building Stone, which informed Somerset’s Minerals Plan (adopted February 2015), there are seven different types of building stone quarried in Somerset: Cornbrash, Forset Marble, Inferior Oolite (Doulting Stone and Cary Stone/Hadspen Stone), Ham Stone, Blue Lias, White Lias, Capton Stone. The target is to quarry 22 of the building stone types currently and historically quarried in Somerset, in order to provide the essential appropriate locally sourced building material to maintain the distinctive character of buildings, structures and settlements in Somerset. The types of building stones quarried will continue to be monitored through planning applications. Aggregates Data for aggregate sales has been collected for the 2014 South West Regional Aggregate Working Party Report and the Somerset Local Aggregate Assessment 2015: 2013 2014 Recycled aggregate sales 105,660t 63,170 t Secondary aggregate sales 2943t 0 t Crushed rock sales 9.98t 12.5 mt Permitted reserves for 425mt 400 mt crushed rock The recycled aggregate figure has been estimated by contacting waste operators with depots and transfer stations that sort materials suitable for recycled aggregate production. Not all operators provided figures for the 2014 survey, and for those that did not return surveys, figures were adjusted from the previous year (according to trends apparent from those returns that were received). It is acknowledged