Councillors back plans for large new quarry sites around Rugby

Warwickshire County Council backed the latest version of its minerals plan at a meeting on Thursday last week.

County councils are required to come up with plans for extracting minerals from the local area.

The plans have to ensure a steady and adequate supply of minerals including the provision of aggregates (sand and gravel and crushed rock). Warwickshire’s plan covers a 15-year period.

Warwickshire County Council has to provide sites that can generate 6.525 million tonnes of sand and gravel over the 15 years.

Around Rugby there are three sites included in the plan: an extension to Shawell Quarry to the north of the town by the A5; Lawford Heath on the north of the A45; and Bourton-on-Dunsmore to the south of the A45 and along the Straight Mile.

They are among a list of sites around the county.

Detailed planning applications would need to be submitted for any site, even if they are included in the final plan.

Portfolio holder for transport and planning Cllr Jeff Clarke (pictured) said the approval of the plan would just trigger another round of consultations.

He added: “I would urge residents to take part in these. We have a statutory duty to produce a minerals plan and it will ensure that we have adequate gravel and sand to support the growth in construction across the county.

“The sites have been selected to ensure we have a good geographical spread across the county so we don’t have to move lorries up and down.

“Each site will require detailed planning permissions before they are brought forward."

The approval by the county council means the plan can now go out for another round of public consultation, scheduled for September/October.

If there are no major delays, an examination in public by an independent inspector will take place next summer and the plan could be adopted in spring 2020.