Consultation on the initial stage of the new Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Minerals and Waste Local Plan closes this coming Thursday (28 June).

The purpose of the plan is to ensure that enough minerals, such as sand, gravel, limestone and brick clay, are available for use in construction and industry; to provide sufficient facilities to manage the waste generated in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; to safeguard key minerals and waste infrastructure; and to protect and enhance the environment whilst supporting growth.

Councils are required to review their Minerals and Waste Local Plan every five years, and this is what is happening now.

A summary of the proposed plan is available here, and more information is available here including links to the proposals (as six – long and technical! – ‘documents to download’).

The county council says: ‘At this stage it is not clear if more sites for mineral and waste management development are needed, so the Preliminary Draft Plan does not allocate any land for development, nor does it identify any sites or broad locations. However, in case more sites will be needed the Plan does give landowners, their agents and operators the opportunity to submit their land for future mineral and / or waste management development … It also asks if existing allocations should be carried forward. Any sites submitted will be assessed against any defined need and, if required, preferred sites will be put forward at the next stage of the Plan, expected to be published for consultation in Spring 2019.’