Minerals Planning Policy (archive)

Introduction

This page has been archived but remains available for review. The Somerset Minerals Plan (adopted 2015) is available for download.

Minerals Planning Policy is outlined through a range of documents. The main document is the Minerals Local Plan for Somerset, which was adopted in April 2004.

It is part of the development framework for Somerset, along with a range of other documents such as the Waste Local Plan, and district and borough local plans.

The Minerals Local Plan sets out the broad land use framework for future mineral development in Somerset.

It sets out the detailed environmental and other criteria against which we judge all applications for mineral extraction or quarrying.

You can download the Minerals Local Plan from this website or contact us for a paper copy. The current Minerals Local Plan is valid until 2011 when it will be replaced with the Minerals and Waste Development Framework.

We cover Minerals Planning for all of Somerset, excluding Exmoor National Park, who have their own minerals planning team.

Who can use it

The Somerset Minerals Local Plan is of interest to anyone wanting to find out about how mineral extraction in Somerset will be managed in the future.

What happens next?

The Somerset Minerals Local Plan is being replaced by the Minerals and Waste Development Framework, a wide ranging set of documents that guide where minerals could be extracted.

We are currently following the Government’s prescribed steps to produce the Minerals and Waste Development Framework, and actively seek views at each stage. You can find the timetable we will be working to in the ‘Mineral and Waste Development Scheme’ document.

We can give you additional advice on:

How the Minerals and Waste Development Framework is progressing
How you can get involved in the consultation sections of the process
How you can get copies of the current documents, such as the Waste or Minerals Local Plan

Policy

The Minerals Local Plan 1997-2011 was due to lapse at the end of 2011. Unless a request was submitted to the Secretary of State to save the policies included in the plan, they would no longer be valid. A request was submitted to the Secretary of State and the saved policies can be found in the ‘Minerals Local Plan Saved Policies’ document. These policies are saved until such time as they are superseded by new policies within the County Council’s emerging Minerals and Waste Development Framework

General

The current Mineral Local Plan is used by the Development Control team to determine mineral planning applications that are submitted to us. The Mineral Local Plan was written by the Minerals and Waste Policy Team. It is the responsibility of this team to formulate plans guiding how and where mineral extraction in Somerset will take place. For more information, please contact the team.