Policy MIN1 - Mineral Production – Requirements

Comment

Representation ID: 12072

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Mr mike stanley

you say that sufficient brick clay provision has been identified for 25 years needs but that is only by large imports of brick clay from outside of the black country, there is an environmental impact to importing this clay and we should try to be more self sufficient and to ensure that our own natural resources are not lost through development.

Object

Representation ID: 17145

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Worcestershire County Council

Minerals
We do, however, consider that the terminology of also supporting mineral extraction, separately from mineral safeguarding operations, within the Mineral Safeguarding Areas is somewhat confusing and does not match the terminology used in the national Planning Practice Guidance of planning for mineral extraction by designating "specific sites", "preferred areas" and "areas of search”.
Worcestershire County Council welcomes future discussions under the Duty to Cooperate on minerals matters.

Support

Representation ID: 17146

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Worcestershire County Council

We welcome the inclusion of policies for the supply of minerals, particularly Policy MIN1 which seeks to ensure the Black Country supplies at least 25% of the seven-year sand and gravel landbank for the West Midlands Metropolitan Area over the plan period.
We welcome the inclusion of a Preferred Area for the working of sand and gravel resources to meet this identified demand.

Comment

Representation ID: 22454

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Tarmac Trading Ltd (Sharne Sahajpal)

Agent: Heatons

Preferred Area and Requirement to restore the former Aldridge Quarry

Policy MIN1 states that sufficient provision has been identified within the plan areas to enable
the Black Country to supply at least 25% of the 7-year landbank for the West Midlands
Metropolitan Area. This is a total of 6.2 million tonnes (made up of remaining permitted reserves
at Branton Hill Quarry, and from within the Preferred area identified at Birch Lane). It also notes
that other resource in the Mineral Safeguarding Areas (MSAs) has the potential to contribute
towards future sand and gravel production. It is acknowledged that Walsall is the only authority
within the Black Country with sand and gravel resources capable of being worked, and Solihull is
the only other authority within the West Midlands Metropolitan Area with workable resource.
Solihull may see a high proportion of its 4 million tonnes of permitted mineral reserves sterilised
by HS2, therefore unlikely Solihull will be able to sustain its output, meaning the BCP needs to
provide for as much sand and gravel production as possible.

Comment

Representation ID: 23154

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Black Country UNESCO Global Geopark Partnership

Agent: Black Country UNESCO Global Geopark Partnership

We acknowledge the need to safeguard minerals and transformation to recycled materials as provisioned within the statements and policies of the plan. We have little to add but we are conscious that these workings will be the last significant exposures of the geology of the Black Country that will ever be made.

As such we would request that within policy MIN 4 that another bullet point (probably as an addition to bullet-point 3) is inserted to permit access to these workings to permit recording and sampling the geology prior to restoration of these last few mineral workings of the Black Country. This will then ensure some long-term heritage and knowledge gain for the Geopark before these last parts of the minerals industry of the Black Country are gone