Lower county mineral targets would take pressure off communities says CPRE Oxfordshire.

31st October 2011

Oxfordshire County Council’s targets for extracting minerals are unnecessarily high says CPRE Oxfordshire in its response to the County Council's consultation on its draft Minerals Planning Strategy, which sets out its plans for mineral extraction in the county until 2030. In its response to the consultation which closes on 31 October, CPRE Oxfordshire has called on the County to look again at the amount of sand and gravel to be extracted.

Arnold Grayson, CPRE’s local minerals consultant, says: “The Council is currently proposing a figure of 1.2 million tonnes a year. We think this could come down by around a third, to 870,000 tonnes. Changes in building design and construction methods mean that less sand and gravel is now needed by the construction industry. There is also a greater supply of marine sand and gravel and recycled material available. In addition, we are asking the Council to investigate the possibility of bringing in materials by rail, such as china clay sand from Cornwall.”

Helen Marshall, Director of CPRE Oxfordshire, says: “These figures are important because they translate directly into holes in the ground and trucks on the roads."

See: CPRE Oxfordshire Press Release October 31 2011.pdf

See: CPRE Oxfordshire response Minerals Consultation 2011.pdf

Consultation starts on county’s minerals and waste policy

30th September 2011

Oxfordshire County Council is currently consulting on its draft planning strategies for minerals and waste development. The new plans will determine where mineral working and waste facilities should be located in the county upto 2030. The eight week public consultation period runs from 5th September to 31st October 2011.

CPRE Oxfordshire will be responding to the consultations. A copy of our consultation response will be posted on our website shortly.

For more information see: Oxfordshire County Council's Minerals and Waste policy.

County’s minerals and waste policy - update

9th May 2011

After Greg Clark MP made clear to Oxfordshire County Council that a new figure for the county’s minerals and waste policy could be adopted only if a “robust evidence base” were supplied, consultants Atkins were commissioned “to produce a robust local assessment of the quantities of sand and gravel and crushed rock that need to be supplied from quarries in Oxfordshire over the period to 2030".

The County’s Cabinet has now reviewed results of Atkins’ work and has accepted the report. It has also added its own views on locations.

An important result of the decision to accept a relatively low level of demand proposed by Atkins is no new strategic areas, apart from one, were proposed for working sand and gravel.

Most recently, on 9th March the Council’s Growth & Infrastructure Scrutiny Committee considered a motion requiring the Cabinet to call in their decision. This was narrowly defeated.

The Scrutiny Committee confirmed the view taken by the Cabinet which resolved:

“(a) to accept the numbers in the Atkins report and (b) to agree the County Council’s preferred spatial strategy approach for mineral working for consultation is:

i. sand and gravel – concentration of working in existing areas of working, at Lower Windrush Valley, Eynsham/ Cassington/Yarnton, Sutton Courtenay, Cholsey and Caversham;

ii. soft sand – working in three existing areas: south east of Faringdon; Tubney/Marcham/Hinton Waldrist; and Duns Tew;

iii. crushed rock – working in three existing areas: north of Bicester to the east of the River Cherwell; south of the A40 near Burford; and south east of Faringdon.

(c) to agree that consultation on the preferred spatial strategy approach for mineral working be combined with consultation on a preferred waste spatial strategy, in June/July 2011.”

The new addition to areas of working is that of Cholsey. CPRE is naturally concerned with this decision, which came out of the blue, as it is with the continued dependence on the Lower Windrush Valley and the Eynsham/Cassington/Yarnton group of sites for supplies of sharp sand and gravel.

According to Arnold Grayson, CPRE Oxfordshire Branch Minerals Consultant:

“The outcome of the referral to an outside contractor is welcome representing as it does a requirement 1.26 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa), or 20% less sand and gravel required than the County’s last proposal of 1.58 Mtpa. For sharp sand and gravel , which means Thames gravels, the quantity implied is 1.01 Mtpa. For crushed rock the amount is 0.63Mtpa, 11% less the the County’s 2009 figure of 0.71.

The vital question overhanging the whole issue of demand for Oxfordshire aggregates is how robust the forecast is. The Atkins report offers four different methods of estimating future supplies from Oxfordshire. One is based on extrapolations using population increase combined with average deliveries of minerals in England over the 5 pre-recession years 2003 to 2007. This yields 1.23Mtpa. An alternative approach, again essentially arithmetical, gives 1.29Mtpa for gravel. The County split the difference to yield the figure of 1.26Mtpa.

To claim as the County does that this is robust surely represents a triumph of hope over experience, for this metric does not explain the reason for the very marked reduction in Oxfordshire supplies, or indeed that of the country as a whole. The element of “ hope“ concerns the prospects for acceptance of the County’s arguments by the inspector at the forthcoming examination in public.

CPRE is now working on this business of robustness. While the total supply of primary aggregates has declined over the past decade or more, no explanation of this is offered by Atkins, beyond noting somewhat increased use of recycled minerals and of secondary material. These shifts have occurred against the background of rising output of the construction industry (up to 2007) and little change in the (real) price of aggregates.

There must be some other influence at work. It appears that this may well be the rise in use of timber framing (for house building) and steel framing (for larger buildings). It is noteworthy that the total consumption of four materials used in building, namely bricks, sand and gravel, crushed rock, and cement, has fallen nationally while that of sawn wood, for example, has risen.”

For more information see ‘Oxfordshire County Council Minerals and Waste’ website.

West Oxfordshire to be the site of yet more gravel extraction decides Oxfordshire County Council

21st October 2010

On 19 October, the Oxfordshire County Council Cabinet approved the Minerals and Waste Working Group recommendation to pursue in the short to medium term the extraction of sand and gravel in the existing areas of working at Lower Windrush Valley, Eynsham/ Cassington/ Yarnton, Radley ( including Nuneham Courtenay), Sutton Courtenay and Caversham (known as Option 1).

The medium to longer term supply sources for the county remain to be re-assessed but these can only be done once future production targets have been established. The target of 2.1mtpa set by the South East Plan continues to be in force until the County Council can agree a figure based on new evidence and a robust argument. CPRE and other local campaign groups have been working with OCC to arrive at an alternative and lower figure. The County Council will be appointing a consultant to carry out this work, with results due at the end of this year or early 2011.

Because there are limited sand and gravel resources remaining in Sutton Courtenay, there is continuing pressure to develop new working areas in South Oxordshire. Depending on the outcome of the assessment of future local sand and gravel needs, potential new sites in the south of the county have been identified as: Clifton Hampden, Stadhampton and Drayton St Leonard, and Cholsey.

OCC has said that the Warborough/Benson/Shillingford area is unsuitable due to environmental constraints, including Grade 1 agricultural land.

The assessment of local need is expected to be completed by the end of 2010 and by January 2011 the Minerals and Waste Plan Working Group will consider the implications of this assessment and draft mineral policies. In February 2011, the OCC Cabinet will consider the draft Minerals Core Strategy.

The spring of 2011 will see another round of public consultations on the draft Minerals Core Strategy. By the end of 2011, the Minerals and Waste Core Strategy is due to be published for formal representations. The Strategy will be submitted to the Secretary of State in early 2012.

CPRE Oxfordshire remains deeply concerned about the cumulative impact of mineral workings on the local communities, landscape and lorry traffic in the Lower Windrush Valley and the Eynsham/Cassington/Yarnton areas, and we will continue to work with the OCC to prepare a robust case for reducing the minerals quota for Oxfordshire and for greater recycling of local aggregates.

The discussion and decisions at item 7 of the agenda are reported on the County Council’s website.

Meeting held between OCC, CPRE and residents' groups opposed to mineral extraction

September 2010

On 9th September, a meeting was held between Oxfordshire County Council, CPRE Oxfordshire and residents' groups opposed to mineral extraction. The meeting included Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Peter Day and Lois Partridge from Oxfordshire County Council, Arnold Grayson from CPRE, and representatives from the following residents' groups: OUTRAGE, Land not Sand, BACHPORT, PAGE, AGRROW, ENOUGH and SEAG.

Following the revocation of the SE Plan and the minerals apportionment in Policy M3, OCC has been advised by government to work to the figures in the Proposed Changes (March 2009) to Policy M3. The Oxfordshire figure for sand and gravel is 2.1mtpa. The County Council does not accept that this is an appropriate figure. Government has also advised that an alternative figure can be used if OCC have new or different information and a robust evidence base. OCC is therefore commissioning work by an independent consultant to carry out a bottom-up assessment of the demand for aggregates and the sand and gravel supply requirement in Oxfordshire. There is no guidance from government (or elsewhere) on an appropriate methodology on which to base such an assessment.

The meeting discussed the programme for the consultant's report and agreeing an alternative sand and gravel figure. OCC aim to prepare a brief for the work by the end of September; this will be a public document. It is intended that consultants will be commissioned in the autumn, for a report to be made to OCC by the end of the year, which would also be made public. Consultation on a proposed alternative sand and gravel figure would then be carried out in the New Year.

The meeting discussed the consultant's remit and the evidence base which they would require to undertake the assessment. The meeting also discussed the potential contribution that secondary and recycled aggregates can make to the overall demand for aggregates.

The groups offered to meet the consultant when he/she is appointed, to provide any information that may be helpful and put forward their views. It was agreed that OCC will provide an opportunity for the groups, coordinated by Mr Grayson of CPRE, to meet the consultant, with the format of this meeting yet to be decided.

CPRE welcomes OCC's rejection of minerals quota for county

25th May 2010

CPRE Oxfordshire was delighted that at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 18 May, Oxfordshire County Council rejected the 2.1mtpa quota for minerals extraction in Oxfordshire, that was issued by the Secretary of State in March 2010, and will be proposing the original figure of 1.5mtpa back to GOSE.

CPRE Oxfordshire believes the Government's proposed Bill to abolish the RSS, announced today, presents an ideal opportunity for Oxfordshire County Council to open up the debate about the proposed figures for sand and gravel extraction in the county so that we can determine in a transparent and accountable manner an appropriate minerals quota for Oxfordshire.

Proposed Changes published to Policy M3 (Primary Aggregates) of the South East Plan

March 2010

Although the bulk of the South East Plan has been approved, there are two outstanding subjects for which policies have still to be decided, namely minerals and travellers.

An Examination in Public on the SE Plan proposals for minerals (Policy M3) was held in October 2009 and the Secretary of State's proposed changes to Policy M3 (together with reasons for the changes) have now been published. It comprises the Secretary of State's proposed Policy M3, a schedule of proposed changes, and an update to the sustainability appraisal report and Habitats Regulations Assessment. This document is being made available for public consultation until 1st June 2010.

Following consideration of representations, the revised policy will be published incorporating the Secretary of State's final changes together with a statement of reasons. This will then supersede the current version of Policy M3 in the South East Plan.

In summary, the proposed figures for sand and gravel extraction are of extreme concern to the region and Oxfordshire in particular, as the Secretary of State is proposing significant increases – amounting to 23% in the overall SE figure and an increase for the County from 1.58 million tonnes per annum to 2.10 million.

These figures have to be viewed against the provision of sand and gravel in recent years. There has been a steady fall in supplies from the county since 2001. This trend reflects the facts that there has been a reduction in building materials use per unit of construction and some increase in use of recycled material. The proposed figure of 2.1 million tonnes per annum for the period 2010 to 2026 is double that extracted in 2007 and 2.7 times that produced in 2008.

CPRE Oxfordshire will be objecting to the new targets on several grounds, notably the fact that the model used has not been made available for critical analysis, and the massive increase over recent production. Oxfordshire County Council is also to object.

See: Summary of Proposed Changes to Policy M3 (PDF)

See: Secretary of State's documents in full (external website)

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