Ryarsh Parish Council Briefing Kent Minerals and Waste

Ryarsh Parish Council Briefing Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2013 -30 Mineral Sites Plan Options Consultation Site M 8 - West Malling Sandpit, Ryarsh Monday 29 th January 2018 Sharon Thompson – Head of Planning Applications Bryan Geake – Principal Planning Officer

Parish Council Briefing • • • The Mineral Sites Plan Process Why do we need sand sites? Mineral Sites Plan Options Consultation* The Ryarsh Site Questions * (Note the County Council is also consulting on a partial review of the KMWLP regarding waste and safeguarding matters)

But First……. • This is not a planning application • It is not an allocation in the Local Plan • The Consultation relates to the early part of the Mineral Sites Local Plan work – seeks views to inform detailed technical assessment to determine allocation of sites • Final draft Plan will be examined by Government in 2019

• Therefore the detail you would expect to see in a planning application is not available, nor is the promoter required to provide it at this stage • Should the site be allocated then a detailed planning application would be required • Planning permission would only be granted if the Planning Authority was satisfied that the environmental and community impacts of the development were acceptable and that it complied with planning policy and guidance

The Mineral Sites Plan

• Kent County Council has a statutory duty to plan for the supply of minerals • The Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan (KMWLP) sets out the core strategy and the development management policies for minerals and waste management and was adopted in July 2016 • It sets out which minerals will be supplied from Kent, commits the Council to producing a Mineral Sites Plan and sets out the amount of minerals that the Sites Plan needs to accommodate • Together these Plans will help decide how minerals are to be provided in Kent up to 2030

• The Mineral Sites Plan will set out where mineral development is acceptable in principle for mineral activity, subject to satisfying the environmental and development management policies in the Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan • It provides clarity to developers, local communities and other interested parties about the nature and scale of development considered acceptable, as well as key issues that need to be resolved in order for development to proceed

Why do we need sand sites?

• Minerals are essential to the functioning of society, the economy and a key raw material for the construction industry • Soft sand is used to produce mortar in construction – other types of aggregate are not suitable for mortar production • Different aggregates have distinct purposes depending on their particular qualities • Unlike other types of development, minerals can only be worked where they naturally occur

Potential Future Demand - UK • Economic activity +2% pa to 2020 • Population growth +8 m by 2030 • • New housing - 200, 000 dwellings pa? Infrastructure - £ 375 bn pipeline Energy – nuclear, renewables, gas Transport – roads, HS 2, airports in SE

• National planning policy requires the County Council to plan for a ‘steady and adequate supply’ of aggregates which includes both soft and sharp sand • To do this we look at how much has been sold in the past and what is likely to be needed in the future • The KMWLP requires sites to meet a need of 5 mt of soft sand. More recent calculations indicate a need of 1. 92 mt • As part of the detailed technical assessment work we will consider the latest need position to ensure that we are planning for the appropriate amount

Mineral Sites Plan – Key Steps • Mineral Sites Plan Options Consultation to • Review Need for Minerals inform detailed technical • Initial assessment of 19 assessment stage promoted mineral sites in • Fresh ‘Call for Sites’ accordance with published methodology • 4 soft sand sites were promoted

Mineral Sites Plan – Key Steps Dec 2017 March 2018 Oct/Nov 2018 Jan 2019 Spring 2019 Oct 2019 Dec 2019 • Mineral Sites Plan Options Consultation • Detailed Technical Assessment and Sustainability Appraisal • Preparation of Pre-Submission Plan and associated Consultation (‘Reg 19’) • Submission to Planning Inspectorate for Independent Examination • Independent Examination Hearing • Inspector's Report • Adoption

Mineral Sites Plan Options Consultation Ryarsh Site

• The County Council is • Seeking local currently consulting on its Mineral Sites Plan Options knowledge as part of Consultation the public • The consultation runs from 19 th December 2017 to 29 th March 2018 • Documents are available to view on the County Council’s website consultation to inform the detailed technical assessment stage and help determine whether the site should go forward as a site allocation

• Following the call for sites 4 soft sand sites were promoted to the County Council to meet the Local Plan need • These were assessed against Stage 1 of the Council’s adopted Site Selection Methodology

Initial Screening/Assessment • Sites were scored • Included desktop assessment against a refined ‘traffic planning constraints, light’ approach - site visits and initial (Red/Amber/Green) consideration by technical consultees • Provided an initial assessment of the potential effects of development at each site against a range of criteria • This process screened out the sites which are assessed as being likely to have unacceptable impacts at the initial assessment stage

Initial Screening Criteria Each site was assessed against the following criteria: • Landscape designations and potential visual impacts upon such designations • Nature conservation interests and geodiversity • Historic environment • Green Belt • Water environment including flooding • Air quality

Initial Screening Criteria Soil quality Public Rights of Way (PRo. W) Transport (including access) Health and amenity i. e. noise, dust, odour, vibration impacts • Services and utilities • Cumulative impacts, and • Airport safeguarding • •

Soft Sand Sites • West Malling Sandpit Site is one of the soft sand sites promoted by a potential operator in response to the ‘Call for Sites’ • Other soft sand sites were promoted at Chapel Farm, Lenham, Double Quick Farm, Lenham, and an extension to Wrotham Quarry, Addington

Initial Assessment Conclusions - Soft Sand Sites • 2 of the promoted soft sand sites - Chapel Farm, Lenham along with the West Malling Sandpit site are considered subject to detailed technical assessment as potentially suitable for allocation in the Kent Mineral Sites Plan • West Malling Sandpit has the potential to provide 3. 1 mt • Chapel Farm, Lenham could provide 4 mt

Initial Assessment Conclusions - Soft Sand Sites • Should both sites be successful at the detailed technical assessment stage this would provide 7. 1 mt • A surplus (above the need figure) would give flexibility to account for sites not coming forward as anticipated, yields being lower or increasing over the Plan Period • May help meet demand in other parts of the SE where the resource is more limited and constrained by National Park designations – views from other local authorities will be taken into account

M 8 West Malling Sandpit, Ryarsh

West Malling Sandpit, Ryarsh • • 20. 8 ha site - 12 ha extraction 3. 1 mt soft sand 0. 5 mt of silica sand Average depth of working – 8. 1 m to 24. 6 m Estimated output – 150, 000 tn pa Operational Life – 24 years + 5 years restoration Restoration using inert material to agriculture Access onto Roughetts Road, then A 20

West Malling Sandpit, Ryarsh So far identified that the detailed technical assessment will need to consider: • Mitigation for impact on the adjacent AONB, local landscape, listed buildings, heritage assets and the public rights of way • No loss or unacceptable impact on ancient woodland nature conservation interests • Mitigation to address any adverse amenity and health impacts including air quality • Mitigation to prevent unacceptable impacts on water resources and the aquifers within the site

West Malling Sandpit, Ryarsh • Appropriate consideration to reduce impact on agricultural soils • Consider cumulative impacts on the environment and local community from quarrying activity • Green Belt considerations • Access arrangements onto Roughetts Road that are adequate in terms of highway requirements and local amenity

West Malling Sandpit, Ryarsh • Considerable amount of further work needed before we can make a decision regarding site allocations • Consultation seeks local knowledge of planning issues that we haven’t identified that you think we need to consider Also note that should a site be allocated, then any future planning application would need to satisfy planning policy and guidance requirements

M 3 Chapel Farm, Lenham Chapel Farm, Ashford Road, Lenham, ME 17 2 DP 58. 67 ha site promoted for soft sand (Folkestone Formation) extraction over a period of 26 years Estimated reserve is 4 million tonnes

Summary • A ‘Call for Sites’ has resulted in the identification of 2 potentially suitable sites for soft sand, that subject to detailed technical assessment may be suitable for allocation in the Mineral Sites Plan – they are not allocations at this stage, nor is it a planning application • Local views are sought as part of the consultation to inform the detailed technical assessment stage and help determine whether the site should go forward as a site allocation

Comments on the consultation can be made until Thursday 29 th March 2018 in the following ways: • http: //consult. kent. gov. uk/portal/ • mwlp@kent. gov. uk • KCC Minerals and Waste Planning Policy, First Floor, Invicta House, County Hall, Maidstone, Kent, ME 14 1 XX

Questions?