Policy information sourced from the Buckinghamshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan

1: Safeguarding Mineral Resources

Minerals are a finite natural resource; in order to secure their long-term conservation Mineral Safeguarding Areas (MSAs) have been defined within Buckinghamshire to prevent mineral resources of local and national importance from being needlessly sterilised by non-minerals development. Mineral resources of local and national importance identified within Buckinghamshire include: sand and gravel deposits of the Thames Valley (situated in the southern half of the county), the Great Ouse Valley east of Buckingham, the sand and gravel deposits in the north of the county, clay-with-flints around Bellingdon and white limestone in the far north of the county.

Proposals for development within MSAs, other than that which constitutes exempt development, must demonstrate that:

  • prior extraction of the mineral resource is practicable and environmentally feasible and does not harm the viability of the proposed development; or
  • the mineral concerned is not of any value or potential value; or
  • the proposed development is of a temporary nature and can be completed with the site restored to a condition that does not inhibit extraction within the timescale that the mineral is likely to be needed; or
  • there is an overriding need for the development.

A Mineral Assessment will be required to accompany the planning application for the proposed non-minerals development, detailing:

  • the size, nature and need for the (non-minerals) development,
  • the effect of the proposed development on the mineral resource beneath or adjacent to the site,
  • site-specific geological survey data (in addition to the MSAs and BGS mapping data) to establish the existence or otherwise of a mineral resource (detailing resource type, quality, estimated quantity and overburden to reserve ratio),
  • whether it is feasible and viable to extract the mineral resource ahead of the proposed development to prevent sterilisation and the potential for use (of the mineral resource) in the proposed development, and
  • where prior extraction can be undertaken how this will be carried out as part of the overall development scheme, with reference to the proposed phasing of operations and construction of the non-mineral development.

In the event that the non-mineral development is delayed or not implemented the site must be restored to a stable landform and appropriate after-use.

For more information please see the Buckinghamshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan