New Minerals Local Plan – our take

Derbyshire County Council has launched a public consultation on its draft Minerals Local Plan.  The consultation is open to everyone to make comments until 29 April 2022.

Why is the Minerals Local Plan important?

The minerals plan sets out the volumes of certain minerals which are able to be extracted from sites in Derbyshire over the MLP period, up until 2038.  These include shale gas, coal, aggregates (stone), sand and gravel. The plan also identifies potential extraction sites and extensions to existing sites in the county.

Shale gas and coal are fossil fuels, which are supposed to be being phased out in order to reduce carbon emissions.

Extraction of aggregates and sand and gravel potentially cause damage to the landscape and increased volumes of heavy traffic.

What is Derbyshire CPRE’s position?

We’re joining with the Derbyshire Climate Coalition to object strongly to the promotion of fossil fuel extraction within the draft plan.  The coalition includes CPRE Peak District, Eckington Against Fracking, Transition Chesterfield and many other Derbyshire based groups campaigning for effective climate change policies and actions.

We will also be looking carefully at proposed aggregate, sand and gravel sites and site extensions at Ardwark, Elvaston, Foston, Sudbury and Swarkestone to assess their local impact, and drafting our own response to the proposals based on our assessment.

Public Consultation

Derbyshire County Council is holding public briefings across the county to present the plan to the public.  Here is the link to the flyer which sets out the dates and times of the meetings.

The plan is very long and technical, but for the benefit of our readers and supporters, we’d like to make clear the four key points that we and our partners intend to make:

1. The climate emergency demands a move away from fossil fuels.
2. The climate change policy in the plan should be much stronger and extraction should only be allowed where there is no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Minerals should only be extracted where no viable alternatives exist.
4. New extraction sites and extensions to existing sites should not have any major adverse landscape or local community impact.

We ask that you please try to go along to your local meeting and make your voice heard!

Some links to our partners:

Derbyshire Climate Coalition (Facebook) 

Transition Chesterfield (Facebook) 

Eckington Against Fracking (Facebook) 

CPRE Peak District & South Yorkshire