Minerals and Waste Local Plan: Pre-Submission Publication

Breckland Sites

MIN 12 - land north of Chapel Lane, Beetley

Site Characteristics

• The 16.38 hectare site is within the parish of Beetley
• The estimated sand and gravel resource at the site is 1,175,000 tonnes
• The proposer of the site has given a potential start date of 2025 and estimated the extraction rate to be 80,000 tonnes per annum. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted within 15 years, therefore approximately 1,120,000 tonnes could be extracted within the plan period.
• The site is proposed by Middleton Aggregates Ltd as an extension to an existing site.
• The site is currently in agricultural use and the Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being Grade 3.
• The site is 3.7km from Dereham and 12km from Fakenham, which are the nearest towns.

A reduced extraction area has been proposed of 14.9 hectares, which creates standoff areas to the south west of the site nearest to the buildings on Chapel Lane, and to the north west of the site nearest the dwellings on Church Lane.

M12.1 Amenity: The nearest residential property is 11m from the site boundary. There are 22 sensitive receptors within 250m of the site boundary and six of these are within 100m of the site boundary. The settlement of Beetley is 260m away and Old Beetley is 380m away. However, land at the north-west and south-west corners is not proposed to be extracted. Therefore, the nearest residential property is 95m from the extraction area and there are 18 sensitive receptors within 250m of the proposed extraction area (two of these are within 100m of the proposed extraction area). Even without mitigation, adverse dust impacts from sand and gravel sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts.

M12.2 Highway access: The site would access the existing plant site on the land to the north of Rawhall Lane via an extension to the existing conveyor. From the plant site the existing site access would be used onto Rawhall Lane east to the junction with the B1146 Fakenham Road, which is a designated lorry route. The site is not within an AQMA. As a proposed extension to an existing site, the number of vehicle movements is expected to remain the same but continue for a longer period. The estimated number of HGV movements is 30 (in and out) per day. The proposed highway access is considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority.

M12.3 Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is Twentieth Century agriculture with boundary loss. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of Twentieth Century agriculture with enclosure and boundary loss, agriculture with 18^th to 19^th Century enclosure, and enclosed wetland meadows. The wider historic landscape character also includes 18^th to 20^th Century woodland plantation, mineral extraction and leisure/recreation.

M12.4 The nearest Listed building is 460m away and is the Grade I Church of St Mary Magdalen. There are 14 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site. The only Scheduled Monument within 2km of the site is 1.57km away and is the 'Moated site 280m south east of Spong Bridge'. There are no Conservation Areas or Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Heritage Statement to identify heritage assets and their settings, assess the potential for impacts and identify appropriate mitigation measures if required.

M12.5 Archaeology: There are no Historic Environment records within the site boundary, however this may just be due to a lack of investigations. The site is in a wider landscape with a significant number of finds and features from multiple periods, and the site is immediately north of the remains of a Roman road. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological remains will be required at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching.

M12.6 Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The site comprises open arable land with few landscape features apart from boundary hedgerow. The site lies close to the boundaries of the landscape character areas described as 'Beeston Plateau Farmland' and 'River Nar Tributary Farmland' in the Breckland Landscape Character Assessment. It lies within a wider area of open arable landscape punctuated with hedgerow oaks and small areas of woodland. Immediately to the north of the site is an existing permitted mineral extraction site, which formed part of the adopted allocation site MIN 10, of which MIN 12 was part.

M12.7 The site is generally well screened from views from surrounding roads and property, although views of the site would be seen from Field Lane, a road used as a public path which bounds the site to the north. In addition, the southern part of the site is slightly elevated and may be visible in a long view from public paths crossing land to the north of the Whitewater valley. The site would be relatively easy to screen from the views from Field Lane, although attention would need to be given to screening views from the north. A low-level restoration scheme with appropriate margins, gradients and land use could be acceptable in this plateau arable landscape, and this is what has been proposed.

M12.8 There are no Public Rights of Way within or adjacent to the site.

M12.9 Ecology: The site is 3.47km from the River Wensum SAC and is outside the Impact Risk Zone for the River Wensum SSSI. Due to this distance, no impacts on this SAC are expected.

M12.10 Beetley and Hoe Meadows SSSI is 1.16km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the valley site represents one of the finest remaining areas of wet unimproved grassland in Norfolk which is species-rich and includes several locally uncommon plants. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and is located up-gradient of the SSSI. Therefore, the SSSI would not be adversely affected.

M12.11 Dillington Carr, Gressenhall SSSI is 1.44km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the site is an extensive area of carr woodland and open water occupying the valley floor and sides of a small tributary of the River Wensum. The site also includes extensive stands of the nationally rare lowland bird cherry-alder woodland. Irrigation reservoirs have been created within the carr which support an outstanding assemblage of freshwater breeding birds, including several uncommon species. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and is located up-gradient of the SSSI. Therefore, the SSSI would not be adversely affected.

M12.12 The nearest County Wildlife Site is CWS 1027 'Gressenhall Green Marshes' which is 730m from the site boundary. The CWS is a mosaic of predominantly unmanaged broad-leaved semi-natural woodland, scrub, hedgerows, ditches and marshy grassland. Due to the distance from the CWS there would be no impacts from dust deposition. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore the County Wildlife Site would not be adversely affected.

M12.13 The nearest ancient woodland site is Great Wood which is a Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS) and Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW); it is 1.28km from the site boundary. Due to the distance from the ancient woodland there would be no impacts from dust deposition. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore the ancient woodland would not be adversely affected.

M12.14 Geodiversity: The site consists of the Briton's Lane sand and gravel member, overlying chalk formations. The Briton's Lane sands and gravels are known to contain priority features such as palaesols and erratics in other locations, and therefore they may occur on this site. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application. It would be useful to retain some open faces for scientific study during operational stages, and ideally after restoration, and have a 'watching brief' during the extraction phase in case features of potential geodiversity interest are uncovered.

(1)M12.15 Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) for flooding from rivers. No areas of the site are at risk of flooding from surface water. The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area.

M12.16 Hydrogeology: The site is located over a secondary A aquifer (superficial deposits) and a principal aquifer (bedrock). The site is within groundwater Source Protection Zone 3. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore no effect on water resources is expected.

M12.17 Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 1km from the Blackwater and 1.2km from Wendling Beck, which are the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbodies. The groundwater level in this area is several metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards the Blackwater or Wendling Beck. MIN 12 and the existing processing plant, which the sand and gravel could be transported to by conveyor, are both located north of Wendling Beck and south of the Blackwater. Therefore, the sand and gravel to be processed would not be transported across either of these watercourses. Due to the distance of the site from the Blackwater and Wendling Beck, it is not expected that there would be a pathway for silt ingress into these waterbodies from any future sand and gravel extraction within site MIN 12.

M12.18 Utilities infrastructure: There are no Anglian Water sewerage assets or water assets within the site. There is no electricity transmission infrastructure within the site. There are no high-pressure gas pipelines within the site.

M12.19 Safeguarding aerodromes: The site is not within an aerodrome safeguarding zone.

M12.20 Restoration: The site is proposed to be restored at a lower level and returned to arable agriculture. Restoration would include wide field margins, new hedgerows and some woodland.

M12.21 Conclusion: Site MIN 12 is considered suitable to allocate for sand and gravel extraction. Development will be subject to compliance with the relevant Minerals and Waste Local Plan Policies and Specific Site Allocation Policy MIN 12.

MIN 51 / MIN 13 / MIN 08- land west of Bilney Road, Beetley

Site Characteristics

• The 39.65 hectare site is within the parish of Beetley
• The estimated sand and gravel resource at the site is 1,830,000 tonnes
• The potential start date of the site is 2022 and estimated the extraction rate to be 70,000 tonnes per annum for the first seven years, increasing to 110,000 tpa for the remaining years. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted within nineteen years, therefore 1,480,000 tonnes would be extracted within the plan period.
• The site is proposed by Longwater Gravel Co Ltd as a new site.
• The site is currently in agricultural use and the Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being Grade 3
• The site is 4.2km from Dereham and 11km from Fakenham, which are the nearest towns

M51.1 Amenity: The nearest residential property is 171m from the site boundary. There are three sensitive receptors within 250m of the site boundary. The settlement of East Bilney is 470m away and Gressenhall is 530m away. Even without mitigation, adverse dust impacts from sand and gravel sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts.

(2)M51.2 Highway access: Access would be from the north-eastern corner of the site onto Rawhall Lane just before it joins the C225 Bilney Road and then join the B1146 Fakenham Road, which is a designated lorry route. There would only be approximately 100m before vehicles could access the B1146. The site is not within an AQMA. The estimated number of HGV movements is 10 out per day for the first seven years, increasing to 15 out per day for the final nine years. The proposed highway access using Rawhall Lane considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority.

M51.3 Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is Twentieth Century agriculture with boundary loss and agriculture with 18^th to 19^th Century enclosure. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of Twentieth Century agriculture with enclosure, boundary loss and boundary loss with a relict element, agriculture with 18^th to 19^th Century enclosure and enclosed wetland meadow. The wider historic landscape character also includes informal parkland, mineral extraction and woodland (ancient woodland and 18^th to 20^th century plantation woodland).

M51.4 The nearest Listed Building is 680m away and is the Grade II Almshouses. There are 16 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site. The only Scheduled Monument within 2km is the 'Deserted Medieval Village' which is 1.11km away. Brisley Conservation Area is 1.74km from the site. There are no Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Heritage Statement to identify heritage assets and their settings, assess the potential for impacts and identify appropriate mitigation measures if required.

M51.5 Archaeology: Historic Environment records of cropmarks and isolated finds, including a ring ditch, exist within the site boundary, however the site has not been subject to a programme of investigation. The site is in a wider landscape with a significant number of finds and features from multiple periods, and the site is north of the remains of a Roman road and south of a number of features from multiple periods. A possible road linking to the Roman Road runs through the southern part of the site. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological remains will be required at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching.

M51.6 Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The site comprises open arable land with few landscape features apart from mature hedgerow oaks. The site is within the landscape character area described as 'Beeston Plateau Farmland' in the Breckland Landscape Character Assessment. It lies within a wider area of open arable landscape punctuated with hedgerow oaks and small areas of woodland. An active quarry lies to the north of Rawhall Lane but does not really detract from the rural appearance of this site.

M51.7 Views of the site can be seen from Bilney Lane to the east, Stoney Lane to the south and Rawhall Lane to the north. The site is fairly flat and would be relatively easy to screen from the views from surrounding roads, by planting additional boundary hedges and thickening up existing boundary hedges. The nearest isolated properties along Rawhall Lane to the north-west would have limited views into the north-west part of the site which would require also additional hedgerow boundary screening. The site comprises open agricultural land, set down to a grass ley with some boundary hedges and hedgerow trees. The site contains some good internal landscape features; the internal hedgerow oaks and the block of woodland and rough grass lie within the centre of the site are notable features in this open landscape and should be protected by a suitable working scheme. A low level restoration scheme with appropriate margins and landuse could be acceptable in landscape terms.

M51.8 There are no Public Rights of Way within or adjacent to the site.

M51.9 Ecology: The site is 4.54km from the River Wensum SAC and is outside the Impact Risk Zone for the River Wensum SSSI. Due to this distance, no impacts on this SAC are expected.

M51.10 Beetley and Hoe Meadows SSSI is 2.12km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the valley site represents one of the finest remaining areas of wet unimproved grassland in Norfolk which is species-rich and includes several locally uncommon plants. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and is located up-gradient of the SSSI. Therefore, the SSSI would not be adversely affected.

M51.11 Dillington Carr, Gressenhall SSSI is 1.88km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the site is an extensive area of carr woodland and open water occupying the valley floor and sides of a small tributary of the River Wensum. The site also includes extensive stands of the nationally rare lowland bird cherry-alder woodland. Irrigation reservoirs have been created within the carr which support an outstanding assemblage of freshwater breeding birds, including several uncommon species. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and is located up-gradient of the SSSI. Therefore, the SSSI would not be adversely affected.

M51.12 Horse Wood Mileham SSSI is 2.84km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that it is an ancient woodland with a structure of coppice-with-standards. The ground flora is exceptionally diverse and includes a number of rare and uncommon species in great abundance. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table). Therefore, the SSSI would not be adversely affected.

M51.13 County Wildlife Site 2137 'Beck Farm Meadows' is 520m from the site boundary. The CWS is a series of damp, cattle-grazed meadows on the south bank of the Black Water. County Wildlife Site 2068 'Rawhall Wood' is 540m from the site boundary. The CWS is an ancient broad-leaved semi-natural woodland supporting a species-rich ground flora, with a network of wide rides. Due to the distance from the CWS there would be no impacts from dust deposition. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore the County Wildlife Site would not be adversely affected.

M51.14 The nearest ancient woodland site is Rawhall Wood which is a Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS) and Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW); it is 0.57km from the site boundary. Due to the distance from the ancient woodland site there would be no impacts from dust deposition. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore the ancient woodland would not be adversely affected.

M51.15 Geodiversity: The site consists of the Briton's Lane sand and gravel member, Lowestoft formation – diamicton, overlying chalk formations. The Briton's Lane sands and gravels are known to contain priority features such as palaesols and erratics in other locations, and therefore they may occur on this site. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application. It would be useful to retain some open faces for scientific study during operational stages, and ideally after restoration, and have a 'watching brief' during the extraction phase in case features of potential geodiversity interest are uncovered.

(1)M51.16 Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) for flooding from rivers. The site has a medium probability of surface water flooding with a few locations of surface water pooling in 1 in 30 and 1 in 100-year rainfall events. In a 1 in 100-year rainfall event a flow path develops in the south-eastern corner of the site. In a 1 in 1000-year rainfall event the surface water flow path further develops to run north-west to south-east across the southern part of the site. Sand and gravel extraction is considered to be a 'water compatible' land use which is suitable in all flood zones. The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area.

M51.17 Hydrogeology: Most of the site is located over a Secondary A aquifer (superficial deposits) and part of the site is located over a Secondary (undifferentiated) aquifer. The whole site is located over a principal aquifer (bedrock). The site is within groundwater Source Protection Zone 3. The proposed site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore no effect on water resources is expected.

M51.18 Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 600 metres from the Blackwater and 1.7km from Wendling Beck, which are the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbodies. The groundwater level in this area is several metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards the Blackwater or Wendling Beck. If mineral is extracted from this site it is expected to be processed on site. Therefore, the sand and gravel to be processed would not be transported across either of these watercourses. Due to the distance of the site from the Blackwater and Wendling Beck, it is not expected that there would be a pathway for silt ingress into these waterbodies from any future sand and gravel extraction within this site.

M51.19 Utilities infrastructure: There are no Anglian Water sewerage assets or water assets within the site. There is no electricity transmission infrastructure within the site. There is a National Grid high-pressure gas pipeline located along the eastern boundary of the site.

M51.20 Safeguarding aerodromes: The site is not within an aerodrome safeguarding zone.

M51.21 Restoration: The site is proposed to be restored at a lower level and the majority returned to arable agricultural. Due to the expected depth of extraction, it is recognised that restoration to arable is likely to require the use of imported inert material to provide a suitable profile. Lagoons to be retained as ponds with planting to create wet woodland habitat. Hedgerow interspersed with oaks is to be planted along the northern boundary alongside Rawhall Lane. A proportion of the site will be restored to woodland and associated grassland habitat.

M51.22 Conclusion: Site MIN 51/ MIN 13/ MIN 08 is considered suitable to allocate for sand and gravel extraction. Development will be subject to compliance with the relevant Minerals and Waste Local Plan Policies and Specific Site Allocation Policy MIN 51/ MIN 13/ MIN 08.

MIN 200 - land west of Cuckoo Lane, Carbrooke

(1)Site Characteristics

• The 7.94 hectare site is within the parish of Carbrooke
• The estimated sand and gravel resource at the site is 300,000 tonnes
• The proposer of the site has given a potential start date of 2025 and estimated the extraction rate to be 25,000 tonnes per annum. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted within twelve years, which would be within the plan period.
• The site is proposed by Mick George Ltd as an extension to an existing site.
• The site is currently in agricultural use and the Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being Grade 3
• The site is 0.8km from Watton and 10.1km from both Attleborough and Dereham, which are the nearest towns

M200.1 Amenity: The nearest residential property is 144m from the site boundary, this is the only sensitive receptor within 250m of the site. The settlement of Carbrooke is 321m away. Even without mitigation, adverse dust impacts from sand and gravel sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts.

M200.2 Highway access: The site would use the existing quarry access onto Mill Lane and then south onto the B1108 Norwich Road, which is a designated lorry route. The site is not within an AQMA. As a proposed extension to an existing site, the number of vehicle movements is expected to remain the same but continue for a longer period. The estimated number of HGV movements is 10 (in and out) per day. The proposed highway access is considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority subject to the provision of passing places between the site and the B1108; use of the existing haul route and Mill Lane crossing to the processing plant, or provision of an appropriate alternative; and a routing agreement along with a weight limit will be required to protect Carbrooke settlement north of the site.

M200.3 Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is Twentieth Century agriculture with boundary loss. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of Twentieth Century agriculture with enclosure and boundary loss, agriculture with 18^th to 19^th century piecemeal enclosure and enclosed wetland meadow. The wider historic landscape character also includes disused post-medieval military, agriculture with pre-18^th century coaxial enclosure and 18^th to 20^th century plantation woodland.

M200.4 The nearest Listed Buildings are the Grade II Mill House and 'Windmill' which are 150m away. There are 27 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site. Carbrooke Conservation Area is 670m from the site, within which many of the Listed Buildings are contained. The only Scheduled Monument within 2km of the site is the 'Site of Commandry of St John of Jerusalem' which is 700m away. There are no Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Heritage Statement to identify heritage assets and their settings, assess the potential for impacts and identify appropriate mitigation measures if required.

M200.5 Archaeology: There are no Historic Environment records within the site boundary, however this may just be due to a lack of investigations. The site is in a wider landscape with a significant number of finds and features from multiple periods, especially to the north around the settlement of Carbrooke. A scatter of finds was found following investigations on the existing site. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological remains will be at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching.

M200.6 Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The site is within the landscape character area described as 'Wayland Plateau Farmland' in the Breckland Landscape Character Assessment. The site is a flat arable field bordered to the west by Mill Lane, to the east by Cuckoo Lane, with an existing permitted mineral extraction site to the south, and on the opposite of Mill Lane. To the north, there are arable fields with isolated woodland blocks up to the settlement of Carbrooke. There would be views from Mill Lane and Cuckoo Lane through gaps in the hedgerows; a screening scheme would need to address this issue together with longer views from the direction of Carbrooke.

M200.7 There are no Public Rights of Way within or adjacent to the site.

M200.8 Ecology: The site is 4.47m from Thompson Water, Carr and Common SSSI which is part of the Norfolk Valley Fens SAC and is outside the Impact Risk Zone for the SSSI. Due to this distance, no impacts on this SAC or SSSI are expected.

M200.9 Scoulton Mere SSSI is 2.72km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the swamp, fen and bog communities that occur on island in the mere and around the shore support a diverse flora including several rare and uncommon plants. Whilst the site is within the Impact Risk Zone for the SSSI, provided that no dewatering is proposed as part of the working scheme, no impacts on this SSSI are expected.

M200.10 Wayland Wood, Watton SSSI is 2.78km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the large wood contains entirely semi-natural stands and is still managed under a traditional coppicing system. The diverse flora is typical of ancient woodland and includes one national rarity. Whilst the site is within the Impact Risk Zone for the SSSI, provided that no dewatering is proposed as part of the working scheme, no impacts on this SSSI are expected.

M200.11 The nearest County Wildlife Site is CWS 2091 'Watton Airfield (Army training area) which is 610m from the site boundary. The CWS is an area of dense scrub with patches of unimproved basic grassland; crossed with tracks. Due to this distance, no impacts on this CWS are expected.

M200.12 The nearest ancient woodland sites are: Shepherds Fell, a Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS) which is 2.34 km from the site boundary, Hazel Hurn, a PAWS and Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW) which is 2.47 km from the site boundary. Due to this distance, no impacts on these sites are expected.

M200.13 Geodiversity: The site consists of the Lowestoft formation – diamicton, overlying chalk formations. The site is unlikely to contain geodiversity priority features. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application.

M200.14 Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) for flooding from rivers. The site has a low risk of surface water flooding with two locations of surface water pooling in a 1 in 30-year rainfall event and a third location in a 1 in 1000 year rainfall event. Sand and gravel extraction is considered to be a 'water compatible' land use which is suitable in all flood zones. The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area.

M200.15 Hydrogeology: The site is located over a Secondary aquifer (undifferentiated) (superficial deposits) and a principal aquifer (bedrock). The site is within groundwater Source Protection Zone 2. The site is expected to be worked dry (above the water table) and dewatering is not proposed at the site. Therefore, no adverse impacts on hydrogeology are expected. However, due to the location of the site within SPZ2, a planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Hydrogeological Impact Assessment to identify any potential impacts to groundwater and appropriate mitigation measures.

M200.16 Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 700 metres from Watton Brook, which is the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbody. The groundwater level in this area is several metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards Watton Brook. MIN 200 and the existing adjacent processing plant, which the sand and gravel would be transported to by internal haul route, are both some distance south of Watton Brook. Therefore, the sand and gravel to be processed would not be transported across this watercourse. Due to the distance of the site from Watton Brook, it is not expected that there would be a pathway for silt ingress into this waterbody from any future sand and gravel extraction within site MIN 200.

M200.17 Utilities infrastructure: There are no Anglian Water sewerage assets or water assets within the site. There is no electricity transmission infrastructure within the site. There are no high-pressure gas pipelines within the site.

M200.18 Safeguarding aerodromes: The site is not within an aerodrome safeguarding zone.

M200.19 Restoration: The site is proposed to be restored to nature conservation with open grassland.

M200.20 Conclusion: Site MIN 200 is considered suitable to allocate for sand and gravel extraction. Development will be subject to compliance with the relevant Minerals and Waste Local Plan Policies and Specific Site Allocation Policy MIN 200.

Broadland sites

MIN 202 - land south of Reepham Road, Attlebridge

Site Characteristics

• The 17.36 hectare site is within the parish of Attlebridge
• The proposer of the site estimated the sand and gravel resource at the site to be 2,200,000 tonnes. However, this is based on a very deep extraction which, due to the shape and area of the site, may not be practicable to restore to a suitable landform. At a more reasonable extraction depth, the site would have an estimated mineral resource of around 1,000,000 tonnes. This site has previously received planning permission for the extraction of 545,000 tonnes of sand and gravel; however this planning permission has now expired as extraction was required to be completed and restored by 08/12/2013, which did not happen. The site has been partially extracted, but no operations have taken place since 2009.
• Based on a recent undetermined planning application (C/5/2018/5004) for mineral extraction at the site, it is considered that a mineral resource of 545,000 tonnes would be deliverable and therefore the proposed site has been assessed on that basis.
• The potential start date of the site is 2023 and estimated the extraction rate to be 140,000 tonnes per annum. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted within 4 years which would be within the plan period.
• The site is proposed by Breedon Group as a depth extension to a previously permitted and partially extracted site.
• The site is a partially extracted mineral site, and woodland plantation. The Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being non-agricultural.
• The site is 1.7km from the Norwich urban area

M202.1 Amenity: The nearest residential property is 126m from the site boundary. There are five sensitive receptors within 250m of the site boundary. The settlement of Update is 1km away and Attlebridge is 1.3km away. Even without mitigation, adverse dust impacts from sand and gravel sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts.

M202.2 Highway access: This site would use the existing haul route to access the C261 Reepham Road (a designated lorry route) at the existing access. The site is not within an AQMA. The estimated number of HGV movements is 76 (in and out). The proposed highway access is considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority.

M202.3 Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is Twentieth century agriculture with enclosure. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of 20^th century agriculture with enclosure, boundary loss and boundary loss with a relict element. The wider historic landscape character also includes agriculture with 18^th to 19^th century piecemeal enclosure, a common, mineral extraction, 18^th to 20th century plantation woodland, and a civilian airfield.

M202.4 The nearest Listed Buildings are the Grade II* Church of St Andrew and Grade II Church Farmhouse, which are 1.45km away. There are 9 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site. The only Scheduled Monument within 2km of the site is 'Round Barrow North of Sandy Lane' which is 810m away. There are no Conservation Areas or Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Heritage Statement to identify heritage assets and their settings, assess the potential for impacts and identify appropriate mitigation measures if required.

M202.5 Archaeology: There are no Historic Environment records within the site boundary, however the lack of HE records may just be due to a lack of investigations. A number of nearby areas have been investigated previously and no archaeological evidence identified.

There have been isolated multi-period finds and the location of a deserted medieval settlement, in the wider landscape. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological remains will be required at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching.

M202.6 Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The site is a partially extracted mineral site and a woodland plantation. The site is within the landscape character area described as 'Horsford Woodland Heath Mosaic' in the Broadland Landscape Character Assessment. The site is screened from views in all directions by woodland, the woodland surrounding the northwest segment of the site is a Plantation on Ancient Woodland (PAWs). Marriott's Way is located immediately north of the woodland, and is crossed by the access road. The potential for impacts on this amenity trail would need to be considered as part of any future application. The estimated mineral resource of 2.2 million tonnes is based upon a deep extraction. It is likely to be difficult to suitability restore a very deep extraction on this site. Therefore, the exact depth of a suitable extraction will need to be determined at the planning application stage.

M202.7 There are no Public Rights of Way within or adjacent to the site.

M202.8 Ecology: The site is 1.15km from the River Wensum SAC and is within the Impact Risk Zone for the River Wensum SSSI. The SSSI citation states that the River Wensum is an example of an enriched calcareous lowland river. With over 100 species of plants, a rich invertebrate fauna and a relatively natural corridor, it is probably the best whole river of its type in nature conservation terms. The site is in an elevated position in relation to the River Wensum and any working would be above the water table. Therefore, it is considered that mineral extraction would result in no adverse effects on the integrity of the SAC.

M202.9 Swannington Update Common SSSI is 0.96km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the variations in soils and wetness and a variable topography on the site have provided conditions for the development of an exceptionally wide range of semi-natural vegetation including dry acidic heathland, wet heathland with acidic flushes, fen, birch and alder woodland, scrub, bracken, rough grassland and ponds. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and is located up-gradient of the SSSI. Therefore, the SSSI would not be adversely affected.

M202.10 Alderford Common SSSI is 1.73km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the site supports a wide range of habitats developed in response to variations in soils and topography. The habitats include species-rich chalk grassland, scrub, woodland, bracken heath, marshy grassland and ponds. There is also a bat roost and an outstanding assemblage of breeding birds. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and is located up-gradient of the SSSI. Therefore, the SSSI would not be adversely affected.

M202.11 County Wildlife Site CWS 1344 'Triumph and Foxburrow Plantations' is partially within the site; it is a mixed broad-leaved woodland with rides. Therefore, mineral extraction within this site would lead to a loss of part of this CWS. CWS 2176 'Marriott's Way' is 50m from the site boundary; it follows a disused railway line with an unvegetated central track. Trees and scrub are the dominant vegetation of the track edges, forming an almost continuous corridor as far as Reepham. The site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore no adverse effects on the hydrology of the CWSs are expected. A potential impact could be dust deposition from extraction, if uncontrolled. Therefore, a dust assessment and identification of appropriate mitigation measures will be required as part of the planning application process, to ensure that the CWSs are not adversely affected.

M202.12 The nearest ancient woodland site is Mileplain Plantation, which is a Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS) and is adjacent to the site boundary and in some places is within the site boundary. Ancient woodlands are irreplaceable habitats and therefore the proposed mineral extraction must not result in the loss or deterioration of the ancient woodland. The working area of the site would therefore need to be set back from the ancient woodland by at least 15-metres to provide a buffer zone. The buffer zone should be planted with native tree species. The site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore no adverse effects on the hydrology of the PAWS are expected. A potential impact could be dust deposition from extraction, if uncontrolled. Therefore, an Arboricultural Impact Assessment and a dust assessment, including the identification of appropriate mitigation measures, will be required as part of the planning application process, to ensure that the PAWs is not adversely affected.

M202.13 Geodiversity: The site consists of the Sheringham Cliffs formation - sand and gravel, overlying Wroxham Crag. There is significant potential for vertebrate fossils within the Wroxham Crag. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application. It would be useful to retain some open faces for scientific study during operational stages, and ideally after restoration, and have a 'watching brief' during the extraction phase in case features of potential geodiversity interest are uncovered.

(1)M202.14 Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) for flooding from rivers. The site has a low probability of surface water flooding, with small areas of surface water pooling in a 1 in 1000 year rainfall event. Sand and gravel extraction is considered to be a 'water compatible' land use which is suitable in all flood zones. The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area.

M202.15 Hydrogeology: The site is located over a Secondary A aquifer (superficial deposits) and a principal aquifer (bedrock). The is within groundwater Source Protection Zone 3. The site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore no effect on water resources is expected.

M202.16 Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 1.2km from Swannington Beck and 1.1km from the River Wensum (Wensum US Norwich) which are the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbodies. The groundwater level in this area is many metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards Swannington Beck or the River Wensum. If mineral is extracted from MIN 202 it is expected to be processed on site, therefore the sand and gravel to be processed would not be transported across these watercourses. Due to the distance of the site from Swannington Beck and the River Wensum, it is not expected that there would be a pathway for silt ingress into these waterbodies from any future sand and gravel extraction within site MIN 202.

M202.17 Utilities infrastructure: There are no Anglian Water sewerage assets or water assets within the site. There is no electricity transmission infrastructure within the site. There are no high-pressure gas pipelines within the site.

M202.18 Safeguarding aerodromes: The site is within the zone where Norwich Airport must be consulted on developments with the potential to increase the number of birds and the 'bird strike' risk to aircraft. Therefore, a Bird Hazard Assessment would be required at the planning application stage.

M202.19 Restoration: The site is proposed to be restored to heathland. The depth of working will need to take into account how a suitable landform and habitat can be created on restoration. However, the estimated mineral resource at the site (of 2,200,000 tonnes) is based on a deep extraction. Even with the importation of materials, it would be very difficult to restore the proposed mineral working to a suitable landform. A more reasonable extraction depth would reduce the available mineral resource but would make the restoration of the site to a suitable landform easier.

M202.20 Conclusion: Site MIN 202 is considered suitable to allocate for sand and gravel extraction. Development will be subject to compliance with the relevant Minerals and Waste Local Plan Policies and Specific Site Allocation Policy MIN 202.

MIN 37 - land east of Coltishall Road, Buxton

Site Characteristics

• The 23.5 hectare site is within the parishes of Frettenham and Buxton with Lammas.
• The estimated sand and gravel resource at the site is 1,450,000 tonnes.
• Planning permission (FUL/2019/0043) was granted for mineral extraction at this site in June 2021 but had not been implemented by December 2021.
• The potential start date for the site is 2022 and the proposer of the site has estimated the extraction rate to be 100,000 tonnes per annum. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted in just under fifteen years, which would be within the plan period.
• The site is proposed by Mick George Ltd (Frimstone) as an extension to an existing site.
• The site is currently in agricultural use and the Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being Grade 3.
• The site is 6.2km from Aylsham and 8.9km from North Walsham, which are the nearest towns. The site is 7.2km from the Norwich urban area

A reduced extraction area has been proposed of 17.36 hectares. This would provide a standoff area for the dwellings along the Coltishall Road.

M37.1 Amenity: The nearest residential property is 15m from the site boundary. There are 20 sensitive receptors within 250m of the site boundary and five of these are within 100m of the site boundary. The settlement of Buxton is 1.1km away. However, the proposed extraction area is set back from Coltishall Road and the nearest residential property is 96m from the extraction area. There are 13 sensitive receptors within 250m of the proposed extraction area (two of these are within 100m of the proposed extraction area). Even without mitigation, adverse dust impacts from sand and gravel sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts.

M37.2 Highway access: The site would use a new temporary access, joining the C494 Coltishall Road near the junction with Sandy Lane and then onto the B1354 which is designated as a main distributor route in the route hierarchy. The site is not within an AQMA. As a proposed extension to an existing site, the number of vehicle movements is expected to remain the same but continue for a longer period. The estimated number of two-way HGV movements is 40 per day. The proposed highway access using Coltishall Road is considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority.

M37.3 Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is agriculture with 18^th to 19th Century piecemeal enclosure. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of 20^th century agriculture with enclosure, boundary loss, and boundary loss with a relict element. The wider historic landscape character also includes agriculture with 18^th to 19^th century piecemeal enclosure, enclosed wetland meadow, mineral extraction, leisure/recreation, and 18^th to 20^th century plantation woodland.

M37.4 The nearest Listed Building is the Grade II Mayton Hall which is 870m away. There are 35 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site. There are 3 Scheduled Monuments within 2km of the site; Mayton Bridge is 0.92km away, Great Hautbois old Church is 1.63km away and the 'Roman camp and Settlement site West of Horstead' is 1.71km away. RAF Coltishall Conservation Area is 1.67km from the site. There are no Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Heritage Statement to identify heritage assets and their settings, assess the potential for impacts and identify appropriate mitigation measures if required.

M37.5 Archaeology: There are no Historic Environment records within the site boundary, however this may just be due to a lack of investigations. The site is in a wider landscape with a significant number of finds and features from multiple periods, including Bronze Age features and a post-medieval fairground and market. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological remains will be required at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching.

M37.6 Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The site comprises gently undulating arable land. The site is within the landscape character area described as 'Bure River Valley' in the Broadland Landscape Character Assessment. The site lies within a wider arable plateau above the River Bure. There is a restored landfill site to the east and an active mineral working to the north east.

M37.7 The site lies approximately 0.75km from the edge of Buxton village to the north, but is immediately opposite five isolated properties which lie along Buxton Road. The site would be difficult to screen from upstairs views from these properties, without a suitable standoff area incorporating advanced planting. Screening should take the form of tree belts with hedgerows closest to the boundaries of the site. This screening has the potential to provide a long term landscape gain by mitigating the differences in landform between the domed landfill and the mineral allocation. Any screening should make use of native species wherever possible; as an overuse of conifers in the landscape would be intrusive in its own right.

M37.8 There is a Public Right of Way crossing the site (Frettenham FP2).

M37.9 Ecology: The site is 4.23km from Crostwick Marsh SSSI, which is part of the Broads SAC, Broadland SPA and Ramsar site. It is outside the Impact Risk Zone for this SSSI, therefore no impacts on this site are expected.

M37.10 There are no SSSIs within 4km of the site boundary and the site is not within the Impact Risk Zone for any SSSI. Therefore, no impacts on SSSIs are expected.

M37.11 The nearest County Wildlife Site is CWS 1411 'Disused Gravel Pit' which is 90m from the site boundary. The CWS includes areas of broadleaved semi-natural woodland, acid grassland, scrub and sparsely vegetated bare mineral soils. The potential exists for impacts from mineral extraction at MIN 37, if uncontrolled. An assessment of potential impacts, including from dust deposition, together with appropriate mitigation would be required as part of any planning application.

M37.12 The nearest ancient woodland site is Clamp Wood which is a Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS) and Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW); it is 2.25km from the site boundary. Due to the distance from the ancient woodland site there would be no impacts from dust deposition. Due to the distance from the ancient woodland there would be no impacts from dust deposition. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore the ancient woodland would not be adversely affected.

M37.13 Geodiversity: The site consists of the Happisburgh glacigenic formation-sand and gravel, overlying Wroxham Crag-sand and gravel. There is significant potential for vertebrate fossils within the Wroxham Crag. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application. It would be useful to retain some open faces for scientific study during the operational stages, and ideally after restoration, and have a 'watching brief' during the extraction phase in case features of potential geodiversity interest are uncovered.

(1)M37.14 Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) for flooding from rivers. The site has a low risk of surface water flooding, with a two locations of surface water pooling in a 1 in 30 rainfall event. In a 1 in 1000 year rainfall event there is a surface water flow path across the widest part of the site west-east. Sand and gravel extraction is considered to be a 'water compatible' land use which is suitable in all flood zones. The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area.

M37.15 Hydrogeology: The site is partially located over a Secondary B aquifer (superficial deposits) and a principal aquifer (bedrock). However, there are no groundwater Source Protection Zones within the proposed site. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore no effect on water resources is expected.

M37.16 Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 1km from the River Bure which is the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbody. The groundwater level in this area is several metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards the River Bure. MIN 37 and the existing adjacent processing plant, which the sand and gravel would be transported to by internal haul route, are both a considerable distance west of the River Bure. Therefore, the sand and gravel to be processed would not be transported across this waterbody. Due to the distance of the site from the River Bure, it is not expected that there would be a pathway for silt ingress into this waterbody from any future sand and gravel extraction within site MIN 37.

M37.17 Utilities infrastructure: There are no Anglian Water sewerage assets within the site. There is a water main within the site and Anglian Water would require the standard protected easement widths for the water main and for any requests for alteration or removal to be conducted in accordance with the Water Industry Act 1991. There is no electricity transmission infrastructure within the site. There are no high-pressure gas pipelines within the site.

M37.18 Safeguarding aerodromes: The site is within the zone where Norwich Airport must be consulted on developments with the potential to increase the number of birds and the 'bird strike' risk to aircraft. Therefore, a Bird Hazard Assessment would be required at the planning application stage.

M37.19 Restoration: The restoration proposal is for a low-level restoration with some inert fill to provide an acceptable landform. The site would be restored to a mix of agricultural land, grassland, and some woodland. The proposer of the site has indicated that there may be the possibility of some enhanced public access to the site, as part of the restoration.

M37.20 Conclusion: Site MIN 37 is considered suitable to allocate for sand and gravel extraction. Development will be subject to compliance with the relevant Minerals and Waste Local Plan Policies and Specific Site Allocation Policy MIN 37.

MIN 64 - land at Grange Farm, Buxton Road, Horstead

(1)Site Characteristics

• The 16.76 hectares site is within the parish of Horstead with Stanninghall
• The estimated sand and gravel resource at the site is 650,000 tonnes
• Planning permission (FUL/2020/0045) was granted for mineral extraction at this site in May 2021 but had not been implemented by December 2021.
• The potential start date for the site is 2022 and the proposer of the site has estimated the extraction rate to be 50,000 tonnes per annum. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted within 13 years, which would be within the plan period.
• The site is proposed by Longwater Gravel Co Ltd as an extension to an existing site.
• The site is currently in agricultural use and the Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being Grade 3
• The site is 7.9km from Aylsham and 9.3km from North Walsham, which are the nearest towns. The site is 6.9km from the Norwich urban area

A reduced extraction area of 10.2 hectares has been proposed. This provides a standoff from the properties to the NE of the site.

M64.1 Amenity: The nearest residential property is 61m from the site boundary. There are five sensitive receptors within 250m of the site boundary and four of these are within 100m of the site boundary. The settlement of Horstead is 453m away. The standoffs proposed for the reduced extraction area, mean that the nearest residential property is 182m from the extraction area, althought there are still five residential properties within 250m. Even without mitigation, adverse dust impacts from sand and gravel sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts.

M64.2 Highway access: The site would use the existing access route from the adjacent site onto the B1354 which is designated as a main distributor route in the route hierarchy, and then onto the A140. The site is not within an AQMA. As a proposed extension to an existing site, the number of vehicle movements is expected to remain the same but continue for a longer period. The estimated number of HGV movements is 6 per day. The current working is limited by condition within its planning permission to a maximum extraction volume of 50,000 tonnes per annum and this would continue. A highway routing agreement would be required. The proposed highway access is considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority.

M64.3 Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is Twentieth Century agriculture with enclosure. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of 20^th century agriculture with enclosure and boundary loss, agriculture with 18^th to 19^th century piecemeal enclosure, and drained enclosed rectilinear grazing marsh (17^th to 20^th century enclosure). The wider historic landscape character also includes enclosed wetland meadow, mineral extraction, informal parkland, leisure/recreation, and 18^th to 20^th century plantation woodland.

M64.4 The nearest Listed Buildings is the Grade II* Church of St Theobald (which is also a Scheduled Monument) and is 580m away. There are 46 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site. 22 of these are within Coltishall and Horstead Conservation Area which is 850m from the site. RAF Coltishall Conservation Area is 1.29km from the site. The nearest Scheduled Monument is the 'Roman camp and settlement site west of Horstead' which is 460m away. There are 3 Scheduled Monuments within 2km of the site. There are no Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Heritage Statement to identify heritage assets and their settings, assess the potential for impacts and identify appropriate mitigation measures if required.

M64.5 Archaeology: The site is located within an area of interest, and there are Historic Environment records of isolated multi period finds and features including a probable bronze age barrow, within the site boundary. The site is close to the boundary of the historic parkland associated with Horstead Hall and is in a wider landscape with a significant number of finds and features from multiple periods. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological remains will be required at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching.

M64.6 Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The site is a large flat arable field. The site is within the landscape character area described as 'Bure River Valley' in the Broadland Landscape Character Assessment. The site adjoins a permitted area of mineral working and lies within a wider area of arable farmland.

M64.7 A scheme of working has been proposed, which shows field boundary hedgerows and trees, and it would be important that any planting reinforces and enhances the existing hedgerows, so that they provide some mitigation to the soil storage bunds which could otherwise be intrusive in their own right. An area of woodland trees is proposed to be planted at the north-eastern end of the site to mitigate any landscape and amenity impacts to Largate Farm and the users of the PROW. It would be important that this planting takes place a sufficient period in advance of mineral operations to provide mitigation. Any agricultural land within a restoration scheme should incorporate wide field margins and the retention of the screen planting to provide long term landscape and biodiversity benefits.

M64.8 There are no Public Rights of Way within the site. There is a PRoW (Horstead with Stanninghall BR3) close to the eastern boundary of the site.

M64.9 Ecology: The site is 3.39km from Crostwick Marsh SSSI, which is part of The Broads SAC, Broadland SPA and Ramsar site. It is outside the Impact Risk Zone for this SSSI, therefore no impacts on this site are expected.

M64.10 There are no SSSIs within 3km of the site boundary and the site is not within the Impact Risk Zone for any SSSI. Therefore, no impacts on SSSIs are expected.

M64.11 County Wildlife Site CWS 1409 'Land adj. All Saint's Church' is 270m from the site boundary; it is a semi-improved neutral-acidic grassland with a diversity of forb species (herbaceous flowering plants) with a central oak and sycamore woodland. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table), therefore, due to this distance, no impacts on this CWS are expected.

M64.12 CWS 1411 'Disused Gravel Pit' is 400m from the site boundary; it includes areas of broadleaved semi-natural woodland, acid grassland, scrub and sparsely vegetated bare mineral soils. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table), therefore due to this distance, no impacts on this CWS are expected.

M64.13 The nearest ancient woodland site is Clamp Wood which is an Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW) and Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS); it is 1.6km from the site boundary. Due to the distance from the ancient woodland there would be no impacts from dust deposition. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore the ancient woodland would not be adversely affected.

M64.14 Geodiversity: The site consists of Head deposits - clay, silt and gravel, which are priority features due to their method of formation; Happisburgh glacigenic formation - sand and gravel, overlying Wroxham Crag - sand and gravel. There is significant potential for vertebrate fossils within the Wroxham Crag. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application. It would be useful to retain some open faces for scientific study during the operational stages, and ideally after restoration, and have a 'watching brief' during the extraction phase in case features of potential geodiversity interest are uncovered.

(1)M64.15 Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) for flooding from rivers. The site has a low risk of surface water flooding, with one location of surface water pooling in a 1 in 30-year rainfall event which extends in both the 1 in 1000 and 1 in 1000-year rainfall event. There are and two additional locations of surface water pooling in a 1 in 1000-year rainfall event. Sand and gravel extraction is considered to be a 'water compatible' land use which is suitable in all flood zones. The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area.

M64.16 Hydrogeology: The site is partially located over a Secondary A aquifer (superficial deposits) and a principal aquifer (bedrock). The site is within groundwater Source Protection Zone 3. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Hydrogeological Impact Assessment to identify any potential impacts to groundwater and appropriate mitigation measures.

M64.17 Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 200 metres from the River Bure which is the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbody. The groundwater level in this area is several metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards the River Bure. MIN 64 and the existing adjacent processing plant, which the sand and gravel would be transported to by internal haul route, are both some distance west of the River Bure. Therefore, the sand and gravel to be processed would not be transported across this waterbody. Due to the distance of the site from the River Bure, it is not expected that there would be a pathway for silt ingress into this waterbody from any future sand and gravel extraction within site MIN 64.

M64.18 Utilities infrastructure: There are no Anglian Water sewerage assets or water assets within the site. There is no electricity transmission infrastructure within the site. There are no high-pressure gas pipelines within the site.

M64.19 Safeguarding aerodromes: The site is within the zone where Norwich Airport must be consulted on developments with the potential to increase the number of birds and the 'bird strike' risk to aircraft. Therefore, a Bird Hazard Assessment would be required at the planning application stage.

M64.20 Restoration: The restoration proposal is for a low-level restoration scheme, mainly to arable agriculture with the retention of boundary hedges and the retention of woodland planting in the north-eastern part of the site. The addition of wide field margins, hedgerow formation and tree planting would provide appropriate landscape and biodiversity gains.

M64.21 Conclusion: Site MIN 64 is considered suitable to allocate for sand and gravel extraction. Development will be subject to compliance with the relevant Minerals and Waste Local Plan Policies and Specific Site Allocation Policy MIN 64.

MIN 65 - land north of Stanninghall Quarry

(1)Site Characteristics

• The 52.48 hectare site is within the parish of Horstead with Stanninghall
• The estimated sand and gravel resource at the site is 3,745,000 tonnes
• Planning permission was granted for mineral extraction at this site in August 2021.
• The proposer of the site has given a potential start date of 2024 and estimated the extraction rate to be 300,000 tonnes per annum. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted within 13 years, therefore 3,745,000 tonnes would be extracted within the plan period.
• The site is proposed by Tarmac Aggregates Ltd as an extension to an existing site.
• The site is currently in agricultural use and the Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being a mixture of grades 2, 3a and 3b.
• The site is 9.1km from Aylsham, which are the nearest town. The site is 5.5km from the Norwich urban area.

M65.1 Amenity: The nearest residential property is 13m from the site boundary. There are 13 sensitive receptors within 250m of the site boundary and four of these are within 100m of the site boundary. The settlement of Horstead is 239m away. The proposed development scheme would include standoff margins to the three properties located at the perimeter of the site, which would increase the distance of the proposed extraction area from these closest properties. Even without mitigation, adverse dust impacts from sand and gravel sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts.

M65.2 Highway access: The site would use the existing processing plant and site access. The site access is via Quarry Road onto the B1150 Norwich Road, which is a designated lorry route. The site is not within an AQMA. The site is proposed as an extension to an existing site with an extraction rate of up to 300,000 tpa which would lead to an estimated 120 HGV movements of sand and gravel per day (60 in and 60 out). As a proposed extension to an existing site, the number of vehicle movements is expected to remain the same but continue for a longer period of time. The proposed highway access is considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority.

M65.3 Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is Twentieth Century agriculture with enclosure and agriculture with 18^th to 19^th century piecemeal enclosure. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of 20^th century agriculture with enclosure and boundary loss, agriculture with 18^th to 19^th century piecemeal enclosure and estate fields. The wider historic landscape character also includes drained enclosed rectilinear grazing marsh (17^th to 20^th century enclosure), enclosed wetland meadow, informal parkland, and woodland (ancient woodland and 18^th to 20^th century plantation woodland).

M65.4 The nearest Listed Building is Grade II Horstead Lodge which is 310m away. There are 50 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site, 24 of these are within Coltishall and Horstead Conservation Area which is 380m from the site. The nearest Scheduled Monument is the 'Roman camp and settlement site west of Horstead, which is 140m away. There are 2 Scheduled Monuments within 2km of the site. There are no Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Heritage Statement to identify heritage assets and their settings, assess the potential for impacts and identify appropriate mitigation measures if required.

M65.5 Archaeology: There are Historic Environment records of multi-period features in the northern part of the site including a probable WW2 military site possibly a training site, within the site boundary. There is a WW2 Royal Observers Corp post on the site boundary. The site is in a wider landscape with a significant number of finds and features from multiple periods, including Roman features including a camp and probable trackway, and a possible settlement. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological remains will be required at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching.

(1)M65.6 Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The northern boundary of the site is 670 metres from the Broads Authority Executive Area. The site comprises open arable plateau farmland divided by hedgerows with some boundary trees. The site is within the landscape character area described as 'Marsham and Hainford Wooded Estatelands' in the Broadland Landscape Character Assessment. The site lies within a wider area of arable farmland. The land to the south is an operational mineral working. Glimpses of the land can be seen from Frettenham Road to the west through gaps in boundary hedges. Views could also be seen from two properties which lie close to the site perimeter to the west and east respectively. The site is fairly level and it should be possible to design a scheme of working, incorporating screening, which would have an acceptable impact on the wider landscape. The proposal for the site indicates that screening and standoff areas would form part of the working scheme.

M65.7 There are no Public Rights of Way within the site. There is a PRoW (Frettenham BR4) close to the western site boundary at one point.

M65.8 Ecology: The site is 1.4km from Crostwick Marsh SSSI, which is part of The Broads SAC, Broadland SPA and Ramsar site. The SSSI citation states that the site forms an excellent example of unimproved valley meadow and supports a series of intergrading plant communities ranging from damp neutral grassland through species-rich fen grassland to tall fen in the valley bottom. A number of uncommon plants are present and there is additional ornithological interest. The proposed extraction site is in a different hydrological catchment to Crostwick Marsh SSSI and therefore would not adversely affect the hydrology of the designated sites. Due to the distance from the proposed extraction site to the SSSI the designated sites would not be affected by dust deposition and the birds on the designated sites would not be disturbed by noise or lighting from mineral extraction operations. Therefore, no adverse effects are expected on the SSSI, SPA, SAC or Ramsar site.

M65.9 The nearest County Wildlife Site is CWS 1409 'Land adj. All Saint's Church' which is 900m from the site boundary. It is a semi-improved neutral-acidic grassland with a diversity of forb species (herbaceous flowering plants) with a central oak and sycamore woodland. Due to distance, no impacts on County Wildlife Sites are expected.

M65.10 The nearest ancient woodland sites are: Clamp Wood, which is an Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW) and Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS) and is 0.27km from the site, and Stanninghall Wood which is a PAWS and is 0.89km from the site boundary. Due to the distance from the ancient woodland there would be no impacts from dust deposition. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore the ancient woodland would not be adversely affected.

M65.11 Geodiversity: This site consists of the Britons Lane sand and gravel member, Happisburgh glacigenic formation - sand and gravel, overlying Wroxham Crag formation - sand and gravel on the west of the site, Wroxham Crag Formation at the surface in the east of the site. There is significant potential for vertebrate fossils within the Wroxham Crag. The Britons Lane sands and gravels are known to contain priority features such as palaesols and erratics in other locations, and therefore they may occur on this site. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application. It would be useful to retain some open faces for scientific study during operational stages, and ideally after restoration, and have a 'watching brief' during the extraction phase in case features of potential geodiversity interest are uncovered.

(1)M65.12 Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) for flooding from rivers. The site has a low probability of surface water flooding, with a few locations of surface water pooling in a 1 in 1000 year rainfall event. Sand and gravel extraction is considered to be a 'water compatible' land use that is suitable in all flood zones. The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area.

M65.13 Hydrogeology: The site is partially located over a Secondary B aquifer and a Secondary A aquifer (superficial deposits) and a principal aquifer (bedrock). The site is within groundwater Source Protection Zone 3. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Hydrogeological Impact Assessment to identify any potential impacts to groundwater and appropriate mitigation measures.

M65.14 Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 700 metres from the River Bure which is the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbody. The groundwater level in this area is several metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards the River Bure. The site proposal indicates that the working would not require dewatering, the current permitted site to the south has been worked 'dry'. MIN 65 and the existing adjacent processing plant, which the sand and gravel would be transported to by internal haul route, are both some distance west of the River Bure. Therefore, the sand and gravel to be processed would not be transported across this waterbody. Due to the distance of the site from the River Bure, it is not expected that there would be a pathway for silt ingress into this waterbody from any future sand and gravel extraction within site MIN 65.

M65.15 Utilities infrastructure: There are no Anglian Water sewerage assets or water assets within the site. There is no electricity transmission infrastructure with the site. There are electricity distribution lines running approximately north to south through the site. There are no high-pressure gas pipelines within the site.

M65.16 Safeguarding aerodromes: The site is within the zone where Norwich Airport must be consulted on developments with the potential to increase the number of birds and the 'bird strike' risk to aircraft. Therefore a Bird Hazard Assessment would be required at the planning application stage.

M65.17 Restoration: The site is proposed to be restored to a combination of arable agriculture, grassland and woodland.

M65.18 Conclusion: Site MIN 65 is considered suitable to allocate for sand and gravel extraction. Development will be subject to compliance with the relevant Minerals and Waste Local Plan Policies and Specific Site Allocation Policy MIN 65.

MIN 96 - land at Grange Farm (between Spixworth Road and Coltishall Lane), Spixworth

(1)Site Characteristics

• The 39.03 hectare site is within the parishes of Spixworth, and Horsham St Faith and Newton St Faith
• The estimated sand and gravel resource at the site is 1,600,000 tonnes
• The potential start date of the site is 2023 and the proposer of the site has estimated the extraction rate to be 150,000 tonnes per annum. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted within eleven years, which would be within the plan period.
• The site is proposed by Tarmac Aggregates Ltd as an extension to an existing site.
• The site is currently in agricultural use and the Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being Grade 3
• The site is 2km from the Norwich urban area

M96.1 Amenity: The nearest residential property is 21m from the site boundary. There are five sensitive receptors within 250m of the site boundary and two of these are within 100m of the site boundary. A standoff area and screening would therefore be required in order to mitigate potential amenity impacts to the adjacent properties. The settlement of Horsham St Faith is 352m away. Even without mitigation, adverse dust impacts from sand and gravel sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts.

M96.2 Highway access: The site would access the A1270 (Broadland Northway) via the roundabout north of Norwich Airport via a new off-highway haul route. The site is not within an AQMA. As a proposed extension to an existing site, the number of vehicle movements is expected to remain the same but continue for a longer period. The estimated number of HGV movements is 60 per day (30 in and 30 out) for the sand and gravel extraction. The site is proposed to be restored by the importation of inert waste (600,000 cubic metres or 1.1 million tonnes per annum over eleven years). The use of inert waste for restoration would produce estimated additional 48 HGV movements (24 in and 24 out) per day. The proposed highway access is considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority subject to improvements to the roundabout to formalise access to the site, the removal of the existing HGV access at Buxton Road and relocation of the existing processing plant to the south of C250 Church Lane.

M96.3 Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is Twentieth Century agriculture with boundary loss and agriculture with 18^th to 19^th Century piecemeal enclosure. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of 20^th century agriculture with boundary loss and enclosure, and agriculture with 18^th to 19^th century piecemeal enclosure. The wider historic landscape character also includes Norwich Airport, industry, enclosed wetland meadow, informal parkland and 18^th to 20^th century plantation woodland.

M96.4 The nearest Listed Buildings are Grade II Meadow Farmhouse (210m away), Grade II Barn at Grange Farm (240m away), Grade II Grange Farmhouse (260m away) and Grade I Church of St Peter (300m away). There are 29 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site. 11 of these are within Horsham St Faiths Conservation Area, which is 650m from the site. The only Scheduled Monument within 2km of the site is 'St Faith Priory, which is 1.08km away. There are no Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Heritage Statement to identify heritage assets and their settings, assess the potential for impacts and identify appropriate mitigation measures if required.

M96.5 Archaeology: The site is located within an area of interest, and there are Historic Environment records of multi period finds, within the site boundary, and a possible medieval trackway crossing the site. The site is close to the boundary of the historic parkland associated with Spixworth Hall, and is in a wider landscape with a very significant number of finds and features from multiple periods. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological remains will be required at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching.

M96.6 Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The site comprises arable land on gently undulating land above the valley of Crostwick Beck. It is divided by hedgerows with small field size in the east with many hedgerow trees. Field size increases to the west with fewer hedgerow trees. The western part of the site is bisected by Marketfield Lane a road used as a public path. The site is within the landscape character area described as 'Spixworth Wooded Estatelands' in the Broadland Landscape Character Assessment.

M96.7 The site forms part of a wider area of gently undulating arable land with the pasture lands of the valley of the Crostwick Beck to the north and the former parkland at Spixworth to the south. The NDR (Broadland Northway) runs approximately 500m to the southeast. The site is adjacent to an existing aggregate processing plant. The site lies approximately 0.5km from the edge of Spixworth and 0.6km from the edge of Horsham St Faiths. Working the eastern part of the site may also affect the setting of Spixworth church and the complex of properties around Grange Farm. Two semi-detached cottages also lie close to the southern boundary of the site, and a standoff area and screening would be required in order to mitigate potential amenity impacts. The site is a large area, however, and it is accepted that it may be possible to work parts of the site, with suitable screening without an unacceptable impact on either the wider landscape or views from property.

M96.8 There are no Public Rights of Way within or adjacent to the site.

M96.9 Ecology: The site is 2.22km from Crostwick Marsh SSSI, which is part of The Broads SAC, Broadland SPA and Ramsar site. The SSSI citation states that the site forms an excellent example of unimproved valley meadow and supports a series of intergrading plant communities ranging from damp neutral grassland through species-rich fen grassland to tall fen in the valley bottom. A number of uncommon plants are present and there is additional ornithological interest. The proposed extraction site is located up-gradient of the SSSI and therefore would not adversely affect the hydrology of the SSSI. Extraction is expected to take place at the same rate as the existing mineral working so there would not be an increase in traffic movements. Due to the distance from the SSSI dust emissions could be satisfactorily controlled to ensure that the SSSI is not affected by dust deposition. Due to the distance of the site from the SSSI noise and lighting would not disturb the birds on the SSSI. Therefore, no adverse effects are expected on the SSSI, SAC, SPA or Ramsar site.

M96.10 County Wildlife Site CWS 2205 'Spixworth Bridge Meadows' is 90m from the site boundary. It is a large area of mixed grassland, some very species rich, and there are many wet, damp and dry ditches. The CWS is in a valley with Spixworth Beck running though. The site is expected to be worked dry (above the water table), therefore adverse impacts to hydrology are not expected. A potential impact could be dust deposition from extraction, if uncontrolled. Therefore, a dust assessment and identification of appropriate mitigation measures will be required as part of the planning application process, to ensure that the CWS is not adversely affected.

M96.11 CWS 1396 'Spixworth Meadows' is 480m from the site boundary. The CWS contains three shallow valleys leading to a tributary of the River Bure. The majority is damp, species-poor, semi-improved grassland with areas divided by wet mesotrophic ditches which have a more diverse flora. The meadows are grazed. The site is expected to be worked dry (above the water table), therefore adverse impacts to hydrology are not expected. Due to this distance, no other impacts on this CWS are expected.

M96.12 The nearest ancient woodland site is The Wilderness, which is a Plantation on Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS) and is 1.47km from the site boundary. Due to this distance, no impacts on this PAWS are expected.

M96.13 Geodiversity: The site consists of the Sheringham Cliffs formation - sand and gravel, and Happisburgh glacigenic formation - sand and gravel. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application. It would be useful to retain some open faces for scientific study during operational stages, and ideally after restoration, and have a 'watching brief' during the extraction phase in case features of potential geodiversity interest are uncovered.

(1)M96.14 Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) for flooding from rivers. The site has a low probability of surface water flooding, with two very small locations of surface water pooling in a 1 in 1000 year rainfall event. Sand and gravel extraction is considered to be a 'water compatible' land use which is suitable in all flood zones. The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area.

M96.15 Hydrogeology: The site is not located over any superficial deposit aquifers. The site is located over a principal aquifer (bedrock). However, there are no groundwater Source Protection Zones within the proposed site.

M96.16 Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 200 metres from the Spixworth Beck which is the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbody. The groundwater level in this area is several metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards the Spixworth Beck. MIN 96 and the existing adjacent processing plant, which the sand and gravel would be transported to by internal haul route, are both some distance south of the Spixworth Beck. Therefore, the sand and gravel to be processed would not be transported across this waterbody. Due to the distance of the site from the Spixworth Beck, it is not expected that there would be a pathway for silt ingress into this waterbody from any future sand and gravel extraction within site MIN 96.

M96.17 Utilities infrastructure: There is an Anglian Water foul sewer which crosses the site as well as foul sewers and a pumping station adjacent to the site boundaries. There are no water assets within the site. Anglian Water would require the standard protected easement widths for the sewers and for any requests for alteration or removal to be conducted in accordance with the Water Industry Act 1991. There is no electricity transmission infrastructure within the site. There are no high-pressure gas pipelines within the site.

M96.18 Safeguarding aerodromes: The site is within the zone where Norwich Airport must be consulted on all development, including developments with the potential to increase the number of birds and the 'bird strike' risk to aircraft. Therefore, a Bird Hazard Assessment would be required at the planning application stage.

M96.19 Restoration: The site proposal does not contain any details regarding restoration. A restoration to agriculture with wide field margins, hedgerow formation and some woodland planting would provide biodiversity and landscape gains. The restoration scheme should seek to retain screen planting. It is recognised that in order to achieve a suitable landform, the importation of inert material is likely to be required and the proposal is for 600,000 cubic metres (1.1 million tonnes) of inert waste material to be used in the site restoration.

M96.20 Conclusion: Site MIN 96 is considered suitable to allocate for sand and gravel extraction. Development will be subject to compliance with the relevant Minerals and Waste Local Plan Policies and Specific Site Allocation Policy MIN 96.

King's Lynn and West Norfolk sites

MIN 6 - land off East Winch Road, Mill Drove, Middleton

Site Characteristics

• The 10.25 hectare site is within the parish of Middleton
• The estimated carstone resource at the site is 1,416,000 tonnes
• The proposer of the site has given a potential start date of 2025 and estimated the extraction rate to be 80,000 tonnes per annum. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted within eighteen years, therefore, approximately 1,120,000 tonnes of carstone could be extracted within the plan period.
• The site is proposed by Middleton Aggregates Ltd as an extension to an existing site.
• The site is currently in agricultural use and the Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being Grade 4.
• The site is 4.8km from King's Lynn, which is the nearest town.

Carstone is the only hard rock which occurs in Norfolk and the deposits are limited to a narrow band which runs north-south just to the east of King's Lynn. The quality of the deposit varies with the highest quality being used as a building stone in the vernacular architecture of the northwest part of Norfolk. However, the majority of the carstone deposit, including this site, is unsuitable for use as a building stone and is used in construction for engineering fill.

(1)M6.1 Amenity: The nearest residential property is 480m from the site boundary. The settlement of Blackborough End is 481m away. Even without mitigation, adverse dust impacts from carstone sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts.

M6.2 Highway access: The site would use the existing internal haul route to the existing quarry entrance on the East Winch Road (C57A) and then travel east of access the A47 Lynn Road at the existing junction, which are both designated lorry routes. The site is not within an AQMA. As a proposed extension to an existing site, the number of vehicle movements is expected to remain the same but continue for a longer period. The estimated number of HGV movements is 30 (in and out) per day. Limited traffic may travel along the East Winch Road and Mill Drove as this is where workshop and storage facilities are located. The proposed highway access is considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority.

M6.3 Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is Twentieth Century agriculture with enclosure. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of Twentieth century agriculture with enclosure and boundary loss, and agriculture with 18^th to 19^th century piecemeal enclosure. The wider historic landscape character also includes Pre-18^th century drained fen enclosure, mineral extraction and 18^th to 20^th century woodland plantation.

M6.4 The nearest Listed Building is Grade II 'Mitre Farm Cottage and attached Oak Cottage', which are 910m away. There are 20 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site. The nearest Scheduled Monument is the Remains of Blackborough End Priory, which is 1.01km away. There are four Scheduled Monuments within 2km of the site. There are no Conservation Areas or Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. No adverse effects on the historic environment are expected from the proposed mineral extraction.

M6.5 Archaeology: The site is located within an area of interest, and there are Historic Environment records of isolated multi period finds, within the site boundary. The site is in a wider landscape with a significant number of finds and features from multiple periods. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological remains will be required at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching.

M6.6 Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The site is within the landscape character area described as 'Gayton and East Winch Farmland with woodland and wetland' in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk Landscape Character Assessment.

M6.7 The site is located on plateau land above the River Nar and is a fairly flat agricultural field with a tree belt along its northern edge and some hedgerow trees along its southern edge, and any workings would be screened from public view. The site is bounded by mineral workings to the east and a landfill site to the south. Further mineral workings lie across Mill Drove to the west and farmland lies north of East Winch Road.

M6.8 There is a Public Right of Way adjacent to the western boundary of the site (Middleton RB4).

M6.9 Ecology: The site is more than 5km from any SPA, SAC or Ramsar site. Therefore, there would be no likely significant effects on these sites.

M6.10 East Winch Common SSSI is 2.23km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that it is an area of predominantly wet acid heathland on shallow peat. Many wet hollows are present containing diverse fen and mire communities. One rare plant species occurs and also several uncommon species. The site is surrounded by young woodland. Due to the distance from proposed mineral extraction site, no adverse impacts are expected to the SSSI.

M6.11 River Nar SSSI is 1.57km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the River combines the characteristics of a southern chalk stream and an East Anglian fen river. Together with the adjacent terrestrial habitats, the Nar is an outstanding river system of its type. Due to the distance from proposed mineral extraction site, no adverse impacts are expected to the SSSI.

M6.12 The nearest County Wildlife Site is CWS 434 'Disused Pit' which is 860m from the site. It is an area of open water, scrub, wet and dry woodland and acid grassland located on the site of former gravel workings. Much of the site is occupied by steep-sided, flooded gravel pits, with frequent trees and scrub around the edge of the lakes. Due to the distance from proposed mineral extraction site, no adverse impacts are expected to the CWS.

M6.13 There are no ancient woodland sites within 3km of the site.

M6.14 Geodiversity: The site consists of Lowestoft Formation - diamicton, overlying Carstone formation-sandstone and Gault Formation mudstone. The site is unlikely to contain geodiversity priority features. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application.

(1)M6.15 Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) of flooding from rivers. The site has a low risk of surface water flooding with three locations of surface water pooling in a 1 in 30 and 1 in 100 year rainfall event. Carstone extraction is considered to be a 'less vulnerable' land use which is suitable in all flood zones, except zone 3b (the functional flood plain). The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area.

M6.16 Hydrogeology: The site is partially located over a principal aquifer (bedrock) and partially over a Secondary (undifferentiated) aquifer (superficial deposits). However, there are no groundwater Source Protection Zones within the proposed site. The proposed extraction site would be worked dry (above the water table) and therefore no effect on water resources is expected. In order to ensure that extraction only takes place above the water table, a planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Hydrogeological Impact Assessment to identify any potential impacts to groundwater and appropriate mitigation measures.

M6.17 Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 1.1km from the County Drain which is the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbody. The groundwater level in this area is several metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards the County Drain. MIN 06 and the existing adjacent processing plant, which the carstone would be transported to by internal haul route, are both located north of the County Drain. Therefore, the carstone to be processed would not be transported across this waterbody. Due to the distance of the site from the County Drain, it is not expected that there would be a pathway for silt ingress into this waterbody from any future carstone extraction within site MIN 06.

M6.18 Utilities infrastructure: There are no Anglian Water sewerage assets within the site. A public water main runs along part of the site boundary. Anglian Water would require the standard protected easement widths for the water main and for any requests for alteration or removal to be conducted in accordance with the Water Industry Act 1991. There is no electricity transmission infrastructure within the site. There are no high-pressure gas pipelines within the site.

M6.19 Safeguarding aerodromes: The site is within the zone for RAF Marham where the Defence Infrastructure Organisation must be consulted on developments with the potential to increase the number of birds and the 'bird strike' risk to aircraft. Therefore, a Bird Hazard Assessment would be required at the planning application stage.

M6.20 Restoration: The site is proposed to be restored to a lower level to a heathland habitat.

M6.21 Conclusion: Site MIN 06 is considered suitable to allocate for carstone extraction. Development will be subject to compliance with the relevant Minerals and Waste Local Plan Policies and Specific Site Allocation Policy MIN 06.

MIN 206 - land at Oak Field, west of Lynn Road, Tottenhill

Site Characteristics

• The 14.7 hectare site is within the parish of Tottenhill
• The estimated sand and gravel resource at the site is 750,000 tonnes
• The proposer of the site has given a potential start date of 2022 and estimated the extraction rate to be 90,000 tonnes per annum. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted within nine years, which would be within the plan period.
• The site is proposed by Mick George Ltd (Frimstone) as an extension to an existing site. The Tottenhill sites would be worked sequentially to mitigate any cumulative impacts.
• The site is currently in agricultural use and the Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being Grade 3
• The site is 6.4km from King's Lynn and 7.2 km from Downham Market which are the nearest towns.

M206.1 Amenity: The nearest residential dwelling is 82m from the site boundary. There are 14 sensitive receptors within 250m of the site boundary and 2 of these are within 100m of the site boundary. The settlement of Tottenhill is 82m away. Even without mitigation, adverse dust impacts from sand and gravel sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts.

M206.2 Highway access: The site is adjacent to the existing plant site which would be accessed by an internal haul route. From the plant site the site would use the existing plant access, along Watlington Road (C51) for about 150 metres before reaching the roundabout for the A10/A134), which is a designated lorry route. The site is not within an AQMA. As a proposed extension to an existing site, the number of vehicle movements is expected to remain the same but continue for a longer period. The estimated number of HGV movements is 40 per day. The proposed highway access is considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority.

M206.3 Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is Twentieth Century agriculture with enclosure. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of Twentieth Century agriculture with enclosure and boundary loss, agriculture with 18^th to 19^th Century piecemeal enclosure, unimproved rough pasture, and a common. The wider historic landscape character also includes informal parkland, 18^th to 19^th Century woodland plantation, a water reservoir and mineral extraction.

M206.4 The nearest Listed Building is the Grade I Church of St Peter and St Paul which is 1.17km away. There are 9 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site. The only Scheduled Monument within 2km of the site is the 'Moated site of Wormegay Priory' which is 1.73km away. Tottenhill Row Conservation Area is 260m from the site. There are no Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Heritage Statement to identify heritage assets and their settings, assess the potential for impacts and identify appropriate mitigation measures if required.

M206.5 Archaeology: The site is located within an area of interest, and there are Historic Environment records that features exist within the site boundary. There are no HE records indicating finds but this may be as a result of lack of investigations. The site is set in a wider landscape with a very significant number of finds and features from multiple periods associated with Fen edge settlement, including Iron Age/ Roman settlement to the south. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological remains will be required at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching.

M206.7 Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The site is within the landscape character area described as 'Stow Bardolph settled farmland with plantations' in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk Landscape Character Assessment. The site is an agricultural field immediately to the south of the existing active mineral processing plant. The northern part of the site is bounded to the east and west by woodland belts, with a flooded former mineral working also to the west. The Lynn Road is approximately 125m to the east, for the northern part of the site, with the southern part of the site projecting eastwards up to the A10 (Lynn Road). The southern boundary of the site borders Whin Common Road. A mineral conveyor which goes between an active extraction area to the south and the processing plant runs through the southern part of the site. The site is generally well screened from public viewpoints except at the far south eastern corner where a field entrance provides a view northwards.

M206.8 There are no Public Rights of Way within or adjacent to the site.

M206.9 Ecology: The site is more than 5km from any SPA, SAC or Ramsar site. Therefore, there would be no likely significant effects on these sites.

M206.10 Setchey SSSI is 1.07km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation details the geological importance of the site for scientific study. The proposed extraction site is within the hydrological catchment for Setchey SSSI but it does not drain towards the SSSI. Therefore there would be no adverse impacts to the SSSI.

M206.11 River Nar SSSI is 1.64km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the River combines the characteristics of a southern chalk stream and an East Anglian fen river. Together with the adjacent terrestrial habitats, the Nar is an outstanding river system of its type. The proposed extraction site is in a different hydrological catchment to the River Nar SSSI and therefore there would be no adverse impacts to the SSSI.

M206.12 The nearest County Wildlife Sites are: CWS 385 'Tottenhill Village Green' which is 190m from the site; it is an area of moderately species-rich neutral grassland containing three small ponds which are seasonally dry. CWS 387 'Tottenhill Row Common' which is 273m from the site; it contains different habitat types, the majority of the site is neutral semi-improved grassland, but contains two large ponds and to the southeast is extensive continuous bracken. CWS 384 'West of Tottenhill' is 282m away; it largely comprises ponds resulting from gravel extraction, surrounded by broadleaved woodland. CWS 381 'Thieves Bridge Meadow' is 407m away; it consists of a mixture of habitats situated on both sides of a flowing drain. The majority of the site is neutral grassland although to the northeast there is a large pond surrounded by woodland. The potential exists for hydrogeological impacts from mineral extraction at MIN 206, if uncontrolled. An assessment of potential impacts on hydrogeology, together with appropriate mitigation would be required as part of any planning application.

M206.13 There are no ancient woodland sites within 3km of the site.

M206.14 Geodiversity: The site consists of the Tottenhill gravel member-gravel, overlying Kimmeridge Clay formation-mudstone. There is a significant potential that geodiversity priority features may exist within the Tottenhill gravels due to the method of formation. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application. It would be useful to retain some open faces for scientific study during operational stages, and ideally after restoration, and have a 'watching brief' during the extraction phase in case features of potential geodiversity interest are uncovered.

M206.15 Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) of flooding from rivers. The site has a low probability of surface water flooding, with one small location of surface water pooling in a 1 in 30-year rainfall event and a 1 in 100-year rainfall event. In a 1 in 1000-year rainfall event there are additional small areas of surface water pooling. Sand and gravel extraction is considered to be a 'water compatible' land use which is suitable in all flood zones. The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area.

M206.16 Hydrogeology: The site is located over a Secondary A aquifer (superficial deposit). The site is not located over any bedrock aquifers. There are no groundwater Source Protection Zones within the proposed site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Hydrogeological Impact Assessment to identify any potential impacts to groundwater and appropriate mitigation measures.

M206.17 Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 450 metres from Hobb's Drain, which flows into the Polver Drain, which in turn flows into the Relief Channel which is the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbody. The groundwater level in this area is several metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards Hobb's Drain. MIN 206 and the existing processing plant, which the sand and gravel would be transported to by conveyor, are both located on the same side of Hobb's Drain and Polver Drain. Therefore, the sand and gravel to be processed would not be transported across the drains. Due to the distance of the site from the drains it is not expected that there would be a pathway for silt ingress into the Relief Channel from any future sand and gravel extraction within site MIN 206.

M206.18 Utilities infrastructure: There are no Anglian Water sewerage assets or water assets within the site. There is no electricity transmission infrastructure within the site. There are no high-pressure gas pipelines within the site.

M206.19 Safeguarding aerodromes: The site is within the zone for RAF Marham where the Defence Infrastructure Organisation must be consulted on developments with the potential to increase the number of birds and the 'bird strike' risk to aircraft. Therefore, a Bird Hazard Assessment would be required at the planning application stage.

M206.20 Restoration: The site is proposed to be restored to an agricultural afteruse at original ground levels. Due to the expected depth of extraction, it is recognised that restoration to arable is likely to require the use of imported inert material to provide a suitable profile.

M206.21 Conclusion: Site MIN 206 is considered suitable to allocate for sand and gravel extraction. Development will be subject to compliance with the relevant Minerals and Waste Local Plan Policies and Specific Site Allocation Policy MIN 206.

SILICA SAND

MIN 40 - land east of Grandcourt Farm, East Winch

Site Characteristics

• The 32.77 hectare site is within the parish of East Winch
• The estimated silica sand resource at the site is 3 million tonnes
• The potential start date of the site is 2022 and the proposer of the site has estimated the extraction rate to be 750,000 tonnes per annum. Based on this information the full mineral resource at the site could be extracted within four years which would be within the plan period.
• The site is proposed by Sibelco UK as an extension to an existing site.
• The site is currently in agricultural use and the Agricultural Land Classification scheme classifies the land as being Grade 4.
• The site is approximately 1.8km from the Leziate processing plant. The mineral would be transported by an internal haul route to the processing plant.

A reduced extraction area has been proposed of 22.11 hectares. This proposal includes standoff areas between the extraction and the properties along the A47 and Gayton Road.

M40.1 Amenity: There is a residential property within the site, the next nearest residential property is 23m from the site boundary. There are 88 sensitive receptors within 250m of the site boundary and 25 of these are within 100m of the site boundary. The settlement of East Winch is 23m away. However, part of the site nearest to East Winch is not proposed to be extracted. Therefore, the nearest residential property is 84m from the extraction area and there are 54 sensitive receptors within 250m of the proposed extraction area (three of these are within 100m of the extraction area). Even without mitigation, adverse dust impacts from sand extraction sites are uncommon beyond 250m from the nearest dust generating activities. The greatest impacts will be within 100 metres of a source, if uncontrolled. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include noise and dust assessments and mitigation measures to deal appropriately with any amenity impacts.

M40.2 Highway access: It is proposed to access the site via the established internal haul route through the existing adjacent extraction area. Mineral would be taken from the site to the processing plant at Leziate using the internal haul route. The majority of processed mineral leaves the processing plant through the onsite railhead. The road transport of mineral would leave the processing plant via the existing access onto Station Road. The site is not within an AQMA. The proposed highway access is considered to be suitable by the Highway Authority.

M40.3 Historic environment: The historic landscape character of the site is Twentieth Century agriculture with boundary loss. The site is within a wider historic landscape character of Twentieth century agriculture with enclosure and boundary loss, agriculture with 18^th to 19^th century piecemeal enclosure and a common. The wider historic landscape character also includes mineral extraction, informal parkland and 18^th to 20^th century woodland plantation.

M40.4 The nearest Listed Building is the Grade II* Church of All Saints, which is 50m away on the opposite side of the A47. The Grade II Hall Farmhouse (formally Church Farmhouse) is 250m away. There are 10 Listed Buildings within 2km of the site. The nearest Scheduled Monument is the 'Moated site of Crancourt Manor' which is 790m away. There are 2 Scheduled Monuments within 2km of the site. There are no Conservation Areas or Registered Historic Parks and Gardens within 2km of the site. A planning application for mineral extraction at this site would need to include a Heritage Statement to identify heritage assets and their settings, assess the potential for impacts and identify appropriate mitigation measures if required.

M40.5 Archaeology: The site is located within an area of interest, and there are Historic Environment records of isolated multi period finds and features including a WW2 searchlight battery and a former roadway, within the site boundary. The site is in a wider landscape with a significant number of finds and features from multiple periods, including an adjacent site, with an Iron Age settlement which has produced regionally significant finds assemblages. Significant archaeological investigations have been carried out as part of the extraction of the adjacent active site. Therefore, there is the potential that unknown archaeology exists on the site and an assessment of the significance of archaeological remains will be required at the planning application stage, in order to protect and mitigate the impact of mineral extraction in this site. The archaeology assessment may initially be desk-based but may need to be followed up with field surveys and trial-trenching.

M40.6 Landscape: The site is not located within the AONB, a Core River Valley or any other designated landscape feature. The site comprises open arable gently undulating landscape. The site is within the landscape character area described as 'Gayton and East Winch Farmland with Woodland and Wetland' in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk Landscape Character Assessment. The eastern boundary of the site is adjacent to part of the village of East Winch, and the A47 (a strategic trunk road) runs along the southern boundary of the site. An active permitted silica sand extraction site is adjacent to the western boundary, and an internal haul route travels north to the processing plant site at Station Road, Leziate.

M40.7 There are filtered views over the site from the A47 and from the Public Right of Way along the western boundary. There are more open views of the site from the PRoW (East Winch FP2) which crosses the site and from the properties on the eastern edge of East Winch. There are also two isolated properties to the south-west corner of the site, adjacent to the A47 which would have views of the site. Based on the existing adjacent mineral working, it is considered that views of the site from the A47 could be sufficiently screened by bunding. The extraction area of the site will need to be set back from the properties in East Winch village and from properties in the south-west corner. A suitable screening scheme will also be required to mitigate the views of the site from these properties.

M40.8 There is a Public Right of Way along the western boundary of the site (East Winch BR1). There is also a PRoW running across the site (East Winch FP2). The PROW would need to be diverted during mineral extraction operations and reinstated as part of the restoration of the site.

M40.9 Ecology: East Walton and Adcock's Common SSSI, which is part of the Norfolk Valley Fens SAC, is 3.79km from the site boundary. The site is outside the 3km Impact Risk Zone for the SSSI and therefore there would be no adverse effects on the SSSI or Norfolk Valley Fens SAC from the proposed mineral extraction.

M40.10 East Winch Common SSSI is 0.74km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that it is an area of predominantly wet acid heathland on shallow peat. Many wet hollows are present containing diverse fen and mire communities. One rare plant species occurs and also several uncommon species. The site is surrounded by young woodland. The potential exists for impacts from mineral extraction at MIN 40, if uncontrolled. An assessment of potential hydrogeological impacts from dewatering, together with appropriate mitigation would be required as part of any planning application.

M40.11 River Nar SSSI is 2.89km from the site boundary. The SSSI citation states that the River combines the characteristics of a southern chalk stream and an East Anglian fen river. Together with the adjacent terrestrial habitats, the Nar is an outstanding river system of its type. Whilst the site is within the Impact Risk Zone for the SSSI, the site is not within the hydrological catchment for the River Nar and due to the distance, there would be no adverse impacts to the SSSI.

M40.12 The nearest County Wildlife Site is CWS 410 'East Winch Common' which is 740m away and is an area of broad-leaved woodland with a number of ponds across the site. The potential exists for impacts from mineral extraction at MIN 40, if uncontrolled. An assessment of potential hydrogeological impacts from dewatering, together with appropriate mitigation, would be required as part of any planning application.

M40.13 There are no ancient woodland sites within 3km of the site.

M40.14 Geodiversity: The site consists of Leziate member – sand and Carstone Formation – sandstone. Potential impacts to geodiversity would need to be assessed and appropriate mitigation identified as part of any future application. It would be useful to retain some open faces for scientific study during operational stages, and ideally after restoration, and have a 'watching brief' during the extraction phase in case features of potential geodiversity interest are uncovered.

(2)M40.15 Flood Risk: The site is in Flood Zone 1 (lowest risk) of flooding from rivers. The site has a low probability of flooding from surface water, with one small location of surface water pooling in a 1 in 1000-year rainfall event. Silica sand extraction is considered to be a 'water compatible' land use which is suitable in all flood zones. The site is not in an Internal Drainage Board area.

M40.16 Hydrogeology: The site is located over a principal aquifer (bedrock) and partially over a Secondary (undifferentiated) aquifer (superficial deposits). However, there are no groundwater Source Protection Zones within the proposed site.

(1)M40.17 Water Framework Directive: The site is approximately 675 metres from the Mintlyn Stream/ Middleton Stop Drain, which is the nearest Water Framework Directive waterbody. The groundwater level in this area is several metres below ground level and therefore overland flows are not expected from the site towards Mintlyn Stream. MIN 40 and the existing processing plant to the north, which the sand would be transported to via an internal haul route, are located on either side of the Mintlyn Stream. The sand to be processed would be transported along an existing internal haul route which currently serves the existing extraction area adjacent to site MIN 40. The potential exists for silt ingress to the Mintlyn Stream from material transported by HGV on the haul route, unless conditions are required. Due to the continued use of the existing haul route, it is not considered that physical impacts on the Mintlyn Stream would occur, provided that the conditions regarding dust in relation to the haul route are replicated in any future planning permission for MIN 40. Due to the distance of the site from the Mintlyn Stream it is not expected that there would be a pathway for silt ingress into Mintlyn Stream from any future silica sand extraction within site MIN 40.

M40.18 Utilities infrastructure: There are no Anglian Water sewerage assets within the site. There are two water mains on the boundaries of the proposed extraction area. Anglian Water would require the standard protected easement widths for the water main and for any requests for alteration or removal to be conducted in accordance with the Water Industry Act 1991. There is no electricity transmission infrastructure within the site. There are no high-pressure gas pipelines within the site.

M40.19 Safeguarding aerodromes: The site is within the zone for RAF Marham where the Defence Infrastructure Organisation must be consulted on developments with the potential to increase the number of birds and the 'bird strike' risk to aircraft. Therefore, a Bird Hazard Assessment would be required at the planning application stage.

M40.20 Restoration: The site is proposed to be restored to a lake area with grassland, woodland and scrub, and an agricultural field with hedgerow reinforcement. The eastern field, which is closest to East winch and opposite All Saints' Church would be restored to an arable agricultural field.

M14.21 Conclusion: The site is considered suitable to allocate for silica sand extraction. Development will be subject to compliance with the relevant Minerals and Waste Local Plan Policies and Specific Site Allocation Policy MIN 40.