Consultation on the County Durham Minerals and Waste Policies and Allocations Document (stage three)

Background

This new planning document will eventually form part of the statutory development plan for County Durham and together with the County Durham Plan, it will be used to make decisions on planning applications for mineral working (quarrying and related development) and on new waste management facilities.

Once it is adopted, it will replace the remaining saved policies of the current County Durham Minerals Local Plan and County Durham Waste Local Plan.

We have now reached the Publication stage of consultation. The Publication Draft M&WDPD takes into account comments made to the Consultation on the County Durham Minerals and Waste Policies and Allocations Document (stage two) last year and includes detailed development management policies which will allow us to consider and control future mineral working and waste development.

This is the final stage of consultation prior to the submission of the documents to the Secretary of State. Before submitting the documents, an examination by a Local Plan Inspector will take place to ensure the plans are sound and are legally compliant.

What we are proposing

We are now consulting on three documents:

1. Publication Draft Minerals and Waste Policies and Allocation document: this includes policies to address a number of detailed development management matters to ensure that minerals and waste development do not have an unacceptable impact on the environment, the living conditions of local communities and human health, including detailed policies on noise, air quality, dust, blasting vibration, traffic and transport matters, and the restoration of mineral and some waste sites. It also contains policies for economically important mineral types that are not covered in the County Durham Plan and for the recovery and disposal of waste. There is also two allocations for mineral working and two for waste disposal. The Draft is supported by four other documents - note that these are provided for reference and are not under consultation.
   • Statement of Consultation: this details the consultation and engagement undertaken on the Draft Plan (stage two) last year.
   • Minerals and Waste Site Assessment Report (updated): this assesses all of the proposed minerals and waste sites as potential allocations from the call for new sites last year.
   • Heritage Impact Assessment: this provides a detailed assessment of designated and non-designated heritage assets.
   • Local Aggregate Assessment (Joint Local Aggregates Assessment for County Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear (April 2022): this monitors the provision of aggregates and forecasts future demand.
2. Sustainability Appraisal report (including appendices and non-technical summary documents): this shows we have appraised each of the policies and allocations in the Publication Draft for their environmental, economic and social effects.
3. Habitats Regulations screening report: this shows that we have screened the Publication Draft to ensure it will not negatively affect the ecological integrity of key wildlife sites, referred to as European sites, in County Durham.

Have your say

Before making your comments we recommend that to read the guidance contained with chapter one of the Publication Draft.

What happens next

We intend to submit the Minerals and Waste Policies and Allocations Document for examination in May 2023 and hope that the appointed Inspector will examine it in Autumn/Winter 2023. Based on the findings of the independent Inspector, we will proceed to finalise the document. This may include further consultation before the documents are adopted.