Part 1 (Open to the Public)
ITEM NO.
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REPORT OF THE Lead Member for Planning
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TO THE
COUNCIL ON 16 SEPTEMBER 2009
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TITLE: GREATER MANCHESTER JOINT MINERALS DEVELOPMENT PLAN
DOCUMENT.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is recommended that the city council:
1. Approve in principle the production of a Greater Manchester Joint Minerals
Development Plan Document;
2. Agree to delegate responsibility for all stages in the production of the
Development Plan Document, other than Publication/Submission and
Adoption (which will remain the responsibility of the city council), to a Greater
Manchester Joint Committee;
3. Agree in principle to the preparation of a Local Agreement between the ten
Districts of Greater Manchester governing the establishment and operation of
the Joint Committee, and authorise the Chief Executive, in consultation with
the Deputy Director of Customer and Support Services and City Solicitor, to
sign this Local Agreement on behalf of the city council;
4. Approve the appointment of the Lead Member for Planning or his nominee as
the city council’s representative on a Joint Committee; and
5. Note the proposed amendment of Salford’s Local Development Scheme to
include reference to the production of the Greater Manchester Joint Minerals
Development Plan Document.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
All Minerals Planning Authorities such as the city council are obliged to keep their
minerals policies under review and as up to date as possible. Salford’s current
policies on minerals are to be found in the Unitary Development Plan, published in
June 2006. These policies now require updating and the most cost effective and
efficient means of updating them is considered to be by contributing to the
production of a Greater Manchester Joint Minerals Development Plan Document.
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Approval is sought in principle to prepare a Greater Manchester Joint Minerals
Development Plan Document and to set in place the governance arrangements for
producing the joint document. The proposed arrangements are broadly similar to
those currently governing the production of the Greater Manchester Joint Waste
Development Plan Document.
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BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: None
(Available for public inspection)
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KEY DECISION:
NO (Council Decision)
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DETAILS:
1.0
Introduction
1.1
Minerals Policy Statement 1 (MPS1), November 2006, requires local planning
authorities to provide a clear guide to minerals operators and the public about:
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the locations where mineral extraction may take place,
the safeguarding of sensitive environmental features and of mineral
resources with potential for future extraction, and
all aspects of environmental and resource protection including the
sustainable transportation of minerals.
1.2
Whilst Salford does not have significant mineral reserves other that peat
deposits on Chat Moss and some small, isolated deposits of sand and gravel,
nevertheless the city council still needs minerals related policies to control any
mineral extraction proposals that might arise within the city in the future,
particularly given aspirations for economic and housing growth, and also to
show how it will source and transport adequate minerals in an environmentally
acceptable manner to meet its needs. The need to provide a clear minerals
planning steer is therefore an issue for Salford as much as it is for other
Greater Manchester districts.
1.3
Salford’s current minerals policies are to be found in the Unitary Development
Plan adopted in June 2006 but these now need to be updated to fully accord
with National Policy and the Regional Spatial Strategy. These revised policies
for minerals should form part of the Local Development Framework.
1.4
Salford’s Core Strategy Issues and Options Report published in October 2008
envisages that strategic and more detailed minerals issues, including the
identification of Minerals Safeguarding Areas, will be dealt with via a Joint
Minerals Development Plan Document prepared at the Greater Manchester
level. If such as document is not prepared, then the city council would need to
prepare a comparable document independently, at potentially greater cost
than that associated with a jointly prepared document. It may also have to
delay work on its Core Strategy pending further and more detailed
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consideration of strategic minerals matters and the assembly of an adequate
minerals evidence base, or risk the Core Strategy being found unsound at its
public examination due to the fact that strategic minerals issues have not
been adequately addressed.
1.5
A number of options have been considered for how the ten AGMA Districts
might work together to ensure that each District delivers an up to date
minerals policy framework. The general consensus among planning officers
working within the ten Districts is that a Joint Development Plan Document,
prepared along similar lines to the Greater Manchester Waste Development
Plan Document, is the most appropriate way forward. This would enable the
sharing of specialist minerals planning knowledge held within the Greater
Manchester Geological Unit as well as the sharing of costs associated with
preparation of an evidence base, policy development, sustainability appraisal,
consultation and examination.
1.6
Preparation of a Greater Manchester Joint Minerals Development Plan
Document has been agreed in principal by the AGMA Planning and Housing
Commission Support Group and is expected to be agreed by the Commission
at its meeting of 13 July and by AGMA Executive at its meeting of 31 July
2009. Full council approvals from all AGMA Districts are required to be in
place by October 2009 to enable a start on the document to be made as
quickly as possible.
2.0
Proposed Process for Producing the Greater Manchester Joint Minerals
Development Plan Document
2.1
As noted above, it is envisaged that the production of a Joint Minerals
Development Plan Document would involve a similar process to that
associated with the Joint Waste Development Plan Document. A Joint
Committee acting as an Executive would have responsibility for production of
the document at all stages other than Publication/Submission and Adoption,
where a decision will be required from each individual District’s full council. At
the Publication stage, Council will be asked to approve the Publication
Document and authorise its Submission to the Secretary of State but minor
amendments to the document prior to Submission, that do not substantially
change the overall thrust of the document or the policies within it, will be
delegated to the Joint Committee. Any more substantive changes post
Publication would require further full council approval and the repeat of the
Publication process.
2.2
Each District would need to nominate an elected member to sit on the Joint
Committee and this joint Committee would be supported by an Officer
Steering Group with representatives drawn from each of the ten AGMA
authorities as well as the Greater Manchester Geological Group. A Legal
Agreement will need to be signed by each of the Districts to allow the
establishment and operation of the Joint Committee.
2.3
It is possible that the Legal Agreement governing the establishment and
operation of the Greater Manchester Joint Waste Committee could be
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amended to enable that Committee’s remit to include both the Minerals and
Waste Development Plan Documents. This issue is currently under
consideration.
2.4
It is estimated that the Joint Minerals Plan will take approximately 36 months
to prepare and progress to adoption. This would commence as soon as
approvals are in place, with adoption anticipated in late 2012. Production
would therefore be spread over four financial years.
2.5 The overall costs associated with production of the document is estimated to be
£650, 000, spread over the four financial years. This figure incorporates
significant savings in the way the plan will be prepared, managed and
consulted upon, in the light of the experience gained in preparing the Joint
Waste Plan. In addition, as noted above, there are significant economies of
scale to be gained in producing a Joint Minerals Development Plan Document
rather than each district dealing with minerals separately. If districts were to
prepare individual Development Plan Documents they would incur significant
financial and staff costs in the production of such documents and still have to
coordinate their work with the nine other local authorities within Greater
Manchester to effectively address cross boundary issues, such as the need to
demonstrate compliance with the Regional Spatial Strategy with regards to the
sub-regional apportionment of aggregates.
2.6 The anticipated annual breakdown of costs per district associated with the
production of a Joint Minerals Development Plan Document is estimated to be
as follows:
Year 1: £11,000
Year 2: £17,000
Year 3: £31,000
Year 4: £6,000
This breakdown assumes an equal division of costs among all ten AGMA
Districts.
2.7 Production of the Joint Minerals Development Plan Document will necessitate
the revision of the city council’s Local Development Scheme to include details
of the document and the timetable for its production. The Lead Member for
Planning has authority to approve amendments to the Local Development
Scheme under the terms of the Council’s Constitution and a report seeking
approval to amend the Local Development Scheme to incorporate a detailed
the timetable for the production of the Joint Minerals Development Plan
Document will be presented to him in due course.
3.0 Conclusions
3.1 All Greater Manchester districts, including Salford, need to consider the review
of their minerals planning policies so as to meet the requirements of national
and regional planning policy. If Core Strategies cannot show how these
requirements will be met, they risk being found unsound at examination.
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3.2 The production of a jointly funded single Joint Minerals Development Plan
Document covering all ten AGMA Districts is considered to be the most cost
effective means of ensuring that an up to date and robust policy framework for
minerals is established, building upon the joint working arrangements which
underpin the production of the Greater Manchester Joint Waste Development
Plan Document.
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KEY COUNCIL POLICIES: Local Development Framework
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EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND IMPLICATIONS: None
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ASSESSMENT OF RISK:
Medium/High: Failure to progress a Greater Manchester Joint Minerals Development
Plan Document risks delaying production of the Core Strategy whilst adequate
strategic minerals policies are developed as part of the Core Strategy and an
evidence base is put in place to support them. If this were not done, then there is in
turn a risk that the Core Strategy could potentially be found to be unsound at its
public examination, requiring certain steps in the Core Strategy production process
to be repeated, which would result in delay and increased costs to the city council.
Failure to produce a Greater Manchester Joint Minerals Development Plan
Document would also require the city council to prepare an equivalent Development
Plan Document covering its own area. This would potentially be more expensive and
require a greater city council staff resource.
The lack of an up to date minerals policy framework might also lead to protracted
public inquiries on individual sites/proposals for minerals working that could come
forward in the future.
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SOURCE OF FUNDING: The costs associated with the production of a Greater
Manchester Joint Minerals Development Plan Document will be taken from the City
Council’s Local Development Framework Budget.
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LEGAL IMPLICATIONS Supplied by Richard Lester 0161 793 2129
There is power under the Local Government Act 1972 for councils to establish a
Joint Committee as proposed.
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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Supplied by Nigel Dickens 0161 793 2585
Provision has been made within the approved budget for the Local Development
Framework to fund the figures identified at paragraph 2.6 above for the current
financial year and then as a committed sum against future years budgets, and as
such there are no financial concerns arising from the report.
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OTHER DIRECTORATES CONSULTED: Environment Directorate
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CONTACT OFFICER: Graham Gentry
TEL. NO: 0161 793 3662
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WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATE(S): All
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