Archived decisions

Contact: Peter Day, ext 6730

1. Summary

1.1 The following decision is sought:

That the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister be informed that Hampshire County Council:

(i) welcomes the Government's intention to publish new, lower guideline figures for the supply of aggregates as soon as practicable, and urges that publication of the final guidelines is not delayed beyond the first quarter of 2003;

(ii) in response to the two specific questions posed in the consultation paper:

(a) considers the main assumptions made in the paper generally to be appropriate; and considers the key guideline figures to have been set at an appropriate level, and strongly welcomes the decreased levels of supply from primary aggregate sources and the increased emphasis on supply from recycled and secondary material resources, and the proposed new target for supply of aggregates from these sources;

(b) considers it would be appropriate and indeed beneficial for the revised guideline figures to be used by mineral planning authorities, as soon as they are finalised and published, in the preparation and revision of mineral development plans and in development control;

(iii) urges a strong commitment by the Government to regular and speedy monitoring and review of the aggregate guidelines, to ensure they are kept up to date;

(iv) supports the reference in the consultation paper to the need for development plans to make provision for an adequate supply of aggregates compatible with environmental objectives, but urges the inclusion of strengthened guidance on the need to promote the provision of new facilities for the supply of recycled and secondary aggregate materials through the planning system;

(v) suggests Hampshire as an appropriate area for a pilot to demonstrate maximisation of aggregate recycling, as part of the Hampshire Natural Resources Initiative; and

(vi) urges that the review of the wider policy content of Minerals Policy Guidance Note 6, as part of the review of general minerals policy guidance, is completed as quickly as possible.

2. Reason

2.1 To alert the Executive Member to the proposed new guidelines for aggregates provision in the consultation paper which will have an impact on minerals planning in Hampshire, particularly the review of the Minerals and Waste Local Plan, and recommend a response to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 Not to offer a response. Rejected because of the importance of influencing the review of national and regional aggregates guidelines because of their impact on the supply of aggregate minerals required to be made in Hampshire.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer consulted - None.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date:

Councillor K B Estlin

7. Introduction

7.1 Government planning policy guidance on the supply of aggregates is contained in Minerals Policy Guidance (MPG) Note 6 `Guidelines for Aggregates Provision in England' (April 1994). This gives guidance at national and regional level on the quantities of aggregates expected to be needed from different sources (land-won, marine-dredged, recycled/ secondary and imported). In particular it includes regional guideline figures for the supply of land-won primary aggregates, for apportionment between mineral planning authorities within each region. In December 1994 SERPLAN agreed an apportionment for the then South East Region, which sets a level of provision of 2.7 million tonnes a year of land-won sand and gravel for Hampshire.

7.2 In October 2000 the former Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions published a consultation paper on a review of MPG6. The County Council's former Planning and Transportation Committee agreed a response to that consultation paper at its meeting on 22 January 2001. It is understood that further progress with the review of MPG6 has been held up by the Government's wider review of the planning system. It is now expected that a revised MPG6 will not be issued, but that the policy content of MPG6 will be included in new general minerals policy guidance.

7.3 The Government recognises, however, that there is an urgent need to update the aggregate guideline figures content of MPG6. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has therefore published a consultation paper, `Draft National and Regional Guidelines for Aggregates Provision in England, 2001-2016', and an accompanying technical note, `Forecasting Aggregates Demand - A Technical Summary'. Comments are invited to be made by 4 November 2002.

8. Consultation Paper

8.1 The consultation paper acknowledges that monitoring has shown that the current guidelines in MPG6 were based on assumptions about demand that are much higher than recent production levels suggest. Therefore it has been decided to prepare revised guidelines as a matter of urgency before the remainder of the guidance in MPG6 is revised. When finally issued, these revised guidelines will replace specified relevant parts of MPG6. The remainder of that document will remain in force for the time being, pending its full review, which will take into account responses made to the October 2000 consultation paper. It is understood that the general policy content of MPG6 will be included in new general minerals policy guidance, on which consultation is expected early in 2003. The purpose of the present consultation is to pave the way for new, lower guidelines as soon as practicable; it is not consultation on the wider principles of minerals supply. The Government hopes to be able to publish the final revised guidelines early in 2003.

8.2 The proposed new guideline figures are substantially lower than those in the current guidelines. They cover the period to 2016, compared with the end date of 2006 of the current guidelines. They are based on up-to-date forecasts of demand and on simple assumptions about future sources of supply, including the contribution of recycled and secondary materials.

8.3 Comments are in particular invited on the following questions:

(i) "Do the main assumptions and key guideline figures need to be amended and, if so, in what ways and why?"

(ii) "Do you agree that the mineral planning authorities should use the revised figures, as soon as these are finalised and published, in the preparation and revision of mineral development plans and in development control?"

9. Draft Revised Guidelines

9.1 The draft indicative forecast is that total demand for all aggregates in England for the period 2001-2016 is likely to be around 3.4 billion tonnes, an average of about 213 million tonnes per year. This is about 24 percent lower than the forecast average of 280 million tonnes per year for the period 1992-2006 in MPG6. The consultation paper subdivides this overall demand figure into regional demand estimates, and for each region it sets out guideline figures for meeting demand by supply from a combination of the following aggregate sources: land-won sand and gravel; crushed rock; marine sand and gravel; recycled and secondary materials; and net imports to England.

9.2 The draft revised guidelines are set out in Table 1 of the attached Appendix. This shows the following expected supply levels for the new South East Region plus Greater London for the period 2001-2016:

Land-won sand 176 million tonnes (11 million tonnes a year)

and gravel

Land-won 22 million tonnes 1.4 million tonnes a year)

crushed rock

Marine sand and 127 million tonnes (7.9 million tonnes a year)

gravel

Recycled/secondary 207 million tonnes (12.9 million tonnes a year)

materials

Imports to England 50 million tonnes (3.1 million tonnes a year)

Total 582 million tonnes (36.3 million tonnes a year)

9.3 Of particular note is that the level of supply from recycled and secondary materials is higher than that from local land-won primary sources (sand and gravel and crushed rock combined). It should be noted, however, that these figures do not include supplies of primary aggregates (principally crushed rock) to the South East from other English Regions.

9.4 The future supply of aggregates is expected to come from a variety of sources. However, the consultation paper stresses that it is not possible to be precise about this as supply will respond to demand, and the pattern of provision in any particular region will be determined by the detailed operation of the planning system and market forces. The guidelines therefore reflect a judgement about the scale of provision that it is appropriate to make, and represent neither a target nor a ceiling. The paper says unrealistic levels of precision are neither feasible nor necessary; the estimates are intended only as guides to supply levels, and are to be subject to regular monitoring and updating when necessary. The paper emphasises the present need as being to make a broad downward adjustment of the guidelines with the minimum of further delay.

9.5 A national comparison of the new draft guidelines with those contained in MPG6 is shown in Table 2 of the attached Appendix. This shows a significant increase in supply from recycled and secondary materials and a substantial decrease in supply from all other sources, including a reduction of 28 percent in supply from land-won sand and gravel. Unfortunately, direct comparison between the new draft guidelines and those in MPG6 for the South East is not possible because of the changes that have been made to regional boundaries since 1994. The new South East Region excludes Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, which are now part of the East of England Region, and Greater London, which is now its own region.

9.6 The consultation paper advises that mineral planning authorities should use the finalised guidelines as soon as practicable in the preparation of minerals development plans and development control. The regional planning bodies will be expected to apportion the finalised guidelines to individual mineral planning authorities within six months of their publication, taking into account the advice of the regional aggregates working parties. In the South East this will be the responsibility of the South East England Regional Assembly. Mineral planning authorities should have regard to the need to make an adequate supply of aggregates available in a manner compatible with environmental objectives.

9.7 The regional planning bodies and aggregates working parties should monitor and report to Government the results of the testing of the apportionments through the preparation of minerals local plans/ development frameworks and regional planning guidance/spatial strategies. The results will be taken into account by the Government when monitoring and reviewing the guidelines.

9.8 The paper states it is Government policy that use of suitable recycled and secondary materials should be encouraged, but advises that the amounts of these materials likely to be available for use will probably vary significantly from place to place. Consideration should be given, therefore, to realistic levels of supply from such sources over the period to 2016. The paper puts forward a new target for England for use of recycled and secondary materials for aggregate purposes of 60 million tonnes per year by 2011 (to replace the target of 55 million tonnes per year by 2006 in MPG6).

10. County Planning Officer's Comments

10.1 The new guidelines for aggregates provision proposed in the consultation paper are of significance for Hampshire because they will directly impact on the supply of aggregate minerals required to be made in the county. Once the guidelines are finalised the South East England Regional Assembly will have to apportion the regional guideline figures between the individual mineral planning authorities. It will then be for each authority to seek to make sufficient provision to meet their apportionment in their mineral local plan/development framework. Therefore the new apportionment for Hampshire that emerges as a consequence of the new guidelines will form the basis for the provision for aggregates supply that will need to be made in the Review of the Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton Minerals and Waste Local Plan.

10.2 Whilst, because of the boundary changes, direct comparison between the new draft guidelines and those in MPG6 for the South East is not possible, the guideline figures for land-won sand and gravel can be compared by looking at the `Sub-Regional Apportionment of the Regional Sand and Gravel Requirement in MPG6' agreed by SERPLAN in December 1994 (RPC 2705). This indicates a reduction of 37 percent in the average annual level of supply for land-won sand and gravel for the South East and London, from 17.4 million tonnes a year to 11 million tonnes a year.

10.3 If the new apportionment for the South East and London was made on the basis of a straightforward pro-rata 37 percent reduction for each `county' area, the apportionment for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton would be reduced from the current 2.7 million tonnes per year to 1.7 million tonnes per year. This would be a significant reduction in the land-won sand and gravel supply requirement for Hampshire, and would be most welcome having regard to the diminishing commercially workable sand and gravel resource and increasing constraints on working. In particular, the New Forest and South Downs National Parks as currently proposed both include significant areas of sand and gravel resources not previously subject to any national level designation. Under current national policy for mineral working within National Parks, this designation would be likely to have a major effect on Hampshire's future ability to supply local land-won sand and gravel.

10.4 However, such a simple approach to the new apportionment may not be appropriate or acceptable to other authorities when the distribution of remaining commercially workable sand and gravel resources and of primary constraints on mineral working across the region is taken into account. A further factor that may be significant is that production of local land-won sand and gravel in Hampshire has generally been maintained at a level not far below the current apportionment level of 2.7 million tonnes a year, whereas many of the other counties have experienced more significant falls in their levels of production. The reason for this is not fully understood, although it may be related to the availability of relatively unconstrained and workable resources.

10.5 This points to a need for the County Council to be fully involved in the sub-regional apportionment exercise that follows finalisation of the new national and regional guidelines. It also indicates that the delay to the review of the policy content of MPG6 is unfortunate, since implementation of the new guidelines through the sub-regional apportionment process and the preparation of minerals local plans/development frameworks will be influenced by national policy guidance on mineral working. However, it is important that the new guideline figures are finalised without delay. Furthermore, the expected move to a single general minerals policy guidance document should provide more consistent and easier to use guidance.

10.6 The proposals for regular monitoring of the aggregates demand forecast and of the supply of aggregates from different sources are to be welcomed. However, it is essential that the aggregates guidelines are subject to speedy review as and when monitoring shows this to be necessary, in order to keep them up to date.

10.7 With regard to the two questions posed in the consultation paper:

(i) The main assumptions made in the paper seem generally to be appropriate, and the key guideline figures seem to have been set at an appropriate level. The decreased levels of supply from primary aggregate sources and the increased emphasis on supply from recycled and secondary material resources and the proposed new target for supply of aggregates from these sources are to be welcomed. This shift in aggregates supply pattern is in line with and supported by the changes that are expected through the Hampshire Natural Resources Initiative. As part of this, Hampshire could act as a pilot for demonstrating maximisation of aggregate recycling across a county area. However, whilst the consultation paper does refer to the need for development plans to make provision for an adequate supply of aggregates compatible with environmental objectives, it does not make any specific reference to the significant increase in facilities for the supply of recycled and secondary aggregates that will be required, and the need for this to be addressed in development plans. The guidelines would benefit from the inclusion of strengthened guidance on the need to promote the provision of new recycling facilities through the planning system.

(ii) It would be appropriate and indeed beneficial for the revised guideline figures to be used by mineral planning authorities, as soon as they are finalised and published, in the preparation and revision of mineral development plans and in development control.

7365/PD

APPENDIX

TABLE 1: DRAFT NATIONAL AND REGIONAL GUIDELINES FOR AGGREGATES PROVISION, 2001 -2016 (MILLION TONNES)

TABLE 2: COMPARISON OF 2002 PROPOSED REVISED NATIONAL GUIDELINES AND 1994 MPG6 GUIDELINES (MILLION TONNES)