Kent Mineral Sites Plan - Nominated Hard Rock Site

Update 31 August 2023

In response to the views received, the County Council is giving relevant stakeholders and interested parties a further opportunity to propose sites for the potential allocation of a hard rock quarry to meet identified need within the Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2024-2039 (MWLP).

A second Call for Sites has been launched today. For further information, please visit Kent Mineral Sites Plan: Second Call for Sites - Hard Rock

The Kent Mineral Sites Plan helps provide certainty that a steady and adequate supply of aggregate minerals can be maintained in Kent in accordance with national policy. Together the adopted Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2013-30 (as amended by the Early Partial Review 2020) and the adopted Kent Mineral Sites Plan form the main part of the Development Plan which represents the planning policy framework for minerals and waste development in Kent.

The current Kent Mineral Sites Plan was adopted in 2020 and allocates three sites that are considered suitable for the quarrying of aggregate minerals; a soft sand quarry (Chapel Farm West, Lenham) and two sharp sand and gravel quarries to be worked sequentially (Moat Farm, Capel and an extension to Stonecastle Farm Quarry, Hadlow).

A review of the Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan is currently being undertaken which would extend the Plan period from 2030 to 2039 (rather than 2038 as previously consulted upon). This extension to the plan period, and a review of recent data on permitted mineral reserves and sales in Kent has revealed a need to plan for the supply of additional hard rock in Kent. This is to ensure that we have planned for a steady and adequate supply of mineral provision over the extended plan period (2024-39) in accordance with national policy requirements.

Currently, only additional capacity is needed for hard rock as data indicates that there is no requirement to allocate additional mineral sites. No changes are proposed to the existing site allocations in the Kent Mineral Sites Plan adopted in 2020 referred to above. These allocations are still required to meet aggregate needs for the plan period.

What has happened so far

A ‘Call for Sites’ took place from October to December 2022 in which operators, landowners and relevant stakeholders were invited to nominate sites for the potential allocation in the Kent Mineral Sites Plan for hard rock quarrying to meet the identified mineral supply requirements.

Following this, a draft Kent Mineral Sites Plan has been prepared which sets out details of the one site nominated for the proposed extraction of hard rock - Land to the south and west of Hermitage Quarry in Aylesford.

The nominated site is an option at this stage, and if progressed, would be subject to detailed technical assessment prior to a decision on whether or not to allocate the site in the Kent Mineral Sites Plan.

The site has been subject to an initial desktop assessment to assess its suitability for potential mineral working in accordance with the County Council’s Site Identification and Selection Methodology. An Initial RAG (Red-Amber-Green) Assessment of the nominated site has been undertaken and can be found in the ‘Documents’ section. The suitability of the nominated site was assessed against various assessment criteria using a RAG scale, and areas likely to require further attention at the detailed technical assessment stage were identified.

Tell us your views

We are now seeking the views of the local community, stakeholders and other interested parties on the draft Kent Mineral Sites Plan including details of the nominated hard rock site including details of the nominated hard rock site.

The main consultation document sets out details of the nominated hard rock site. It also sets out indicative ‘development management’ criteria, that are based on the planning conditions, which apply to the existing site at Hermitage Quarry and have been informed by the initial RAG assessment and draft Sustainability Appraisal.

This public consultation seeks to gather evidence from local communities and stakeholders on the suitability of the nominated site. The responses received during the consultation will help to inform the detailed technical assessment of the site in the next stage of the process.

It should be noted that no decisions have been made at this time on whether the site is suitable for allocation in the Kent Mineral Sites Plan.

We also welcome your feedback on the following supporting documents:

• Initial (RAG) Assessment of the Suitability of Nominated Land to the South and West of Hermitage Quarry for Hard Rock
• Draft Sustainability Appraisal
• Draft Sustainability Appraisal Non-Technical Summary

You can comment on the draft updates to the Kent Mineral Sites Plan including details of the nominated hard rock site by completing our representation form below.

Alternatively, if you prefer not to respond online, you can send your form or written response to:

Email: mwlp@kent.gov.uk
Address: Minerals and Waste Planning Policy Team, Planning Applications Group, Invicta House, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XX.

You may also find it helpful to read our Frequently Asked Questions.

Next steps

Once the consultation has closed, we will collate all the comments received in response to this consultation and prepare a commentary report summarising the views received and how these have been taken into account. The comments received will also be considered in the detailed technical assessment of the nominated hard rock site.