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Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton Minerals and Waste
Local Plan: |
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Purpose of the Plan
1.18 This Plan covers the period to the end of 2001. It provides for the minerals and waste development needs of Hampshire over this period and also makes provision for a further seven years' worth of sand and gravel extraction (a landbank) at the end of the period.
1.19 The policies and proposals in the Plan relate mainly to mineral working and the disposal of waste, but also cover other forms of minerals and waste development, including: rail aggregate depots; marine and sea-borne aggregate wharves; minerals processing and manufacturing plant; and waste processing, transfer and recycling facilities. The main issues that are addressed in the Plan are:
· How to ensure the conservation and prudent use of the mineral resources of Hampshire and to encourage reduction in the use of resources and in the creation and disposal of waste.
· The quantity of aggregate minerals that will need to be supplied in Hampshire and how to meet those needs, including how much mineral extraction will need to take place within the County.
· The quantity of waste that will need to be disposed of in Hampshire and the facilities that will be needed.
· The other types of development that will be needed for the supply of minerals and management of waste.
· Where sites for new mineral working, waste disposal and other development should be located.
· How to ensure that minerals and waste development is carried out without causing unacceptable damage to the environment.
· How to ensure that minerals and waste sites are restored so as to provide the maximum environmental and public benefit.
1.20 These issues are addressed in the Plan by a set of policies against which proposals for development will be assessed. The Plan also identifies 'preferred areas' and 'preferred sites', for minerals and waste development. This approach allows the prior selection of the locations where it is believed that development would cause least damage. It provides certainty to the minerals and waste industries and the residents of Hampshire as to where minerals and waste development is likely to be permitted and where it will not normally be permitted. Accompanying each preferred area and site is a series of issues that will need to be addressed and criteria that will need to be met before any proposal for minerals or waste development will be considered as being acceptable.
1.21 It is important that the Plan is read as a whole and that individual policies are not viewed in isolation. In addition, it should be borne in mind that proposals for minerals and waste development may be affected by other Council policies which are not based on Town and Country Planning legislation, such as the Hampshire Waste Management Plan.
1.22 In preparing this Plan, the Councils have taken into account the environmental implications of: minerals and waste development in general; and the policies and proposals of the Plan in particular. These environmental considerations have been appraised throughout the plan preparation process, particularly in the light of the representations that have been made at the various stages in the process, to ensure that the Plan reflects environmental priorities in accordance with government and strategic policy.
1.23 Following this introductory chapter, the Plan sets out:
(i) the National, Regional and County background and policy framework for minerals and waste development (Chapter 2);
(ii) policies for the conservation of resources (Chapter 3);
(iii) policies for protecting the environment and ensuring the satisfactory development, operation and restoration of minerals and waste sites (Chapter 4);
(iv) the expected future need for the supply of minerals in Hampshire and policies and proposals for satisfying that need (Chapter 5);
(v) the expected future need for waste facilities in Hampshire and policies and proposals for satisfying that need (Chapter 6);
(vi) the way in which the Plan is to be implemented and provisions for its monitoring and review to ensure it is kept up-to-date (Chapter 7); and
(vii) the preferred areas and sites for minerals and waste development, sites to be safeguarded, and the criteria that will need to be met for each area and site to make the development acceptable (Appendix 1).
1.24 The proposals map inside the back cover shows the location of preferred areas and sites and sites to be safeguarded together with the main planning constraints on minerals and waste development.
1.25 The glossary at the end of the Plan explains the meaning of technical terms used in the text.
