Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton Minerals and Waste Local Plan: Adopted December 1998

Marine-Dredged Sand and Gravel

Main Contents Page	Alternative Aggregates	Secondary Aggregates
5. Meeting the Need for Minerals	Marine-Dredged Sand And Gravel	Chalk
Geology	Crushed Rock	Clay
Sand And Gravel	Secondary Or Substitute Aggregate Materials	Borrow Pits
Chalk	Aggregates Supply	Oil And Gas
Clay	Preferred Areas For Sand And Gravel Extraction	Minerals Processing And Manufacturing Plant
Borrow Pits	Alternative Aggregates	Mineral Exploration
Oil And Gas	Aggregates Wharves And Depots

5.14 Dredging of sand and gravel from offshore seabed deposits is a long established practice and large quantities of this material have been landed at wharves in Hampshire for many years. Dredging currently takes place mainly off the Isle of Wight and the West Sussex coast. Dredging areas are usually licensed by the Crown Estate Commissioners and are not subject to planning control. Landings of marine-dredged sand and gravel in Hampshire increased from around 1.5 million tonnes a year in the mid 1970s to over 2.0 million tonnes a year in the late 1980s. Over the years 1985/87/89, landings averaged 2.13 million tonnes a year, but fell to 1.7 million tonnes in 1991 and to 1.6 million tonnes in 1993. Most of this material is used as concreting aggregate. There are ten wharves in Hampshire where marine-dredged sand and gravel has been landed regularly over recent years: five at Southampton; three at Portsmouth; and one each at Fareham and Havant; although two of these wharves are no longer in use.