THE CONSULTATION on the latest modifications to Warwickshire County Council’s Minerals Plan closes on 7th January 2022.

The plan sets out the sites where sand and gravel will be quarried, for use either in the county’s own developments or to be sold to neighbouring authorities.

It’s relevant for us in South Rugby because the first site on the list is at Bourton on Dunsmore.

Under the plan, a quarry at the Straight Mile in Bourton would deliver 1.15 million tonnes of sand and gravel by 2032. The nearby Ling Hall Quarry has now ceased mineral extraction, although it continues to process imported minerals. And so a new quarry at Bourton would be destined to serve building and development sites in Rugby and Coventry.

The modified plan says the Bourton quarry would be developed in phases, working land north of the Straight Mile first to reduce impact on hedgerows, trees and Bourton on Dunsmore village.

Hedgerows feature large in the amended Minerals Plan. 

Article 7.42 of the revised plan says: 

“Hedgerows, including roadside hedgerows, are becoming increasingly gappy. Road visual impact should be minimal providing the existing hedgerow network and screen planting is gapped up and retained throughout the working phases. Protecting, safeguarding, and strengthening existing hedgerows and mature hedgerow trees coupled with advanced planting and the phased working and restoration of the site should minimise any potential adverse landscape and visual impacts.”

Traffic would increase, but according to the plan ‘The Straight Mile is likely to be able to accommodate an increase in HGV use’. It says HGV routing would be eastwards onto the A45 at the Blue Boar junction with the A4071 and B4453, but that improvements might be needed to improve safety.

“Early engagement with Highways England and the Local Highways Authority, including the County Council’s Transport Planning and Highways Development Management teams, will be required.”

And after all the minerals have been extracted, the plan suggests the site is restored to agriculture and nature conservation.

Bourton and Draycote parish council wrote to Warwickshire County Council in 2018 asking for the site to be removed.

Parish councillors wrote: “It is the view of Bourton & Draycote Parish Council that the Sustainability Appraisal Report prepared by Atkins for WCC and relied upon for the assessment of sites and for allocating and rejecting sites, has not correctly identified several risk factors, primarily the serious risk of flooding.”

They argued the Minerals Plan overestimates the amount of sand and gravel required, and said that the council should first look to recycle aggregates rather than developing virgin quarry sites.

Read their full letter

Key points from the modified Minerals Plan

• Seven sites designated for quarrying sand and gravel: Bourton, Lawford Heath, Shawell Quarry, Wasperton, Coney Grey Farm, Lea Marston, Barnwell’s Barn Farm (north)

• All sites within 15km of housing and employment land allocations

• Together the sites will deliver 6.525 million tonnes of sand and gravel by 2032.

• The plan does not seek to fill future sand and gravel needs through use of secondary or recycled aggregates

• Although there are large coal reserves in the north of the county, these would not be extracted for use in electricity generation.

• The Minerals Plan states that the presumption will be against giving consent for fracking

Warwickshire County Council’s Minerals Plan went through public examination hearings held in October 2020. Since then, the council has made a number of changes to the plan identified by the Inspector, and the modified plan consultation runs from 5th November 2021 to 7th January 2022 at 5pm.

Background to the consultation, the consultation documents, a response form and guidance on how you can make comments and the list of Additional (Minor) Modifications will be available via the Minerals Plan Examination webpage.