Extension of Consultation - Essex Minerals Local Plan Review to Tuesday 9th April

Consultation Information from Essex County Council below:

The current Essex Minerals Local Plan (MLP) was adopted in July 2014. The Plan provides planning policies for minerals development in Essex until 2029 and identifies future sites for mineral extraction.

Every five years the council is required to review the effectiveness of its MLP. Since 2020 the review of the Plan has undergone several phases of consultation and two call for sites resulting in 52 candidate sites being put forward for consideration for inclusion in a new Plan.

We are now proposing to extend the Plan to 2040 covering a 15-year period from 2025.  New sites will be needed to meet the forecasted demand for aggregates (sand and gravel) over this period. Doing so will ensure that the Plan is robust and can help maintain a ‘steady and adequate’ supply of aggregates and meet the relevant ‘tests of soundness’ as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

There are two main parts of this consultation on which you are invited to comment: the first are the revised Plan polices, their supporting text and the wider Plan evidence base in the draft Replacement Minerals Local Plan. The second is the site assessment report which contains the 52 candidate sites. The suitability of each has been assessed by independent consultants.

At this stage we have not identified what sites we want to see included in the final Plan. ‘Preferred Sites’ for allocation will be chosen once the comments received from this consultation have been fully considered.

Full details of this consultation, all related documents and how to respond can be found on the Essex County Council website at www.essex.gov.uk/minerals-review