Village Housing Options and Settlement Boundaries

Thank you for consulting Warwickshire County Council. Please find below officer comments submitted on behalf of the WCC Minerals and Waste Planning Policy team.

Having reviewed the information, the only minerals related issue we would like to raise as part of the consultation is the promotion of a site for sand and gravel extraction near Baginton - see 'Site 20 -South of Baginton' of the Minerals Core Strategy 'Revised Spatial Options' (Feb 2009) consultation document.

http://warwickshire-consult.objective.co.uk/portal/planning/minerals/mcsrso?pointId=section_31224101112750#section-section_31224101112750

It appears that WDC's preferred option is to extend the village of Baginton. If taken forward, the village boundary could see residential development right up to the 'Site 20' boundary. Policy M5 of the adopted Warwickshire Minerals Local Plan (1995) states that Warwickshire County Council will seek to secure the winning of proven and potentially workable minerals prior to the implementation of development which would otherwise sterilise them. This is reinforced through para 143 of the NPPF which requires that LPAs should encourage prior extraction of the mineral where practicable and environmentally feasible if it is necessary for non-mineral development to take place.

We are currently in the middle of a further 'request for sand and gravel sites' exercise which ends of 28th February 2014. Upon completion, we will have a clearer indication of which sites are likely to be taken forward as preferred sand and gravel allocations through the next Minerals Plan consultation. However, at this moment in time, there appears to be potential interest in working the site and so we consider it appropriate to raise it at this stage. If the site is likely to be taken forward, we would like to work with WDC and the promoter of the residential allocation to discuss any potential minerals issues so that any sterilisation of mineral resource is prevented or mitigated as far as possible.