Mineral Planning

Mineral planning is about how we plan for and make decisions about the extraction of minerals from the land. Over the years, a formal system has been established that prevents someone from digging up the ground whenever or wherever they like.

Sometimes this involves making difficult decisions which not only have to consider the national and regional requirements for minerals, affected by economic and environmental factors, but also have to balance local considerations. This has resulted in a plan-led system being introduced, which involves preparing plans that set out what can be done and where. Minerals operations are a part of this system.

National policies established by central government must be considered in forming the regional strategies and the local development frameworks. Plans will show where the current workings are taking place and where the landbank of permitted reserves are. Plans should also show preferred areas and perhaps areas of search. Of course, all plans must take account of the living, natural and cultural environment. Some areas have special protection because they contain important features such as plants, wildlife, special landscapes or historic monuments.

If a planning application is made in line with the approved plan, and is otherwise environmentally acceptable, the developer can usually expect to receive planning permission. Objections raised at this point will of course be considered, but may not prevent permission being given. All members of the community are strongly encouraged to contribute to the process of preparing plans, and it is important to get involved at as early a stage as possible.

Mineral Planning Process

The rest of this Planning section explains the planning process with specific reference to minerals development in England. Links to information for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are included where appropriate. It deals with the preparation of development plans. It also summarises the application procedure (Fig. 2) and gives some information on how a decision is reached and what role the public play in the process.



The Government's national planning policy for minerals in England is set out in the Minerals Planning Guidance notes (MPGs) which are gradually being replaced by Minerals Policy Statements (MPSs). MPS1 ²⁶⁴ has now replaced MPG1²⁸⁴ and gives a general introduction to the system. A document called "Planning and Minerals: Practice Guide" has also been published and sets out how the policies in the Statement might best be implemented.

A useful document has been published by the Planning Officers' Society and the ODPM (now the CLG) called Guidance on Policies for Minerals Planning²⁶⁵. It gives an overview of the minerals and planning system, as well as specific guidance on the production of development plans.

The planning system in Wales is administered by the Welsh Assembly Government and information on various aspects of the minerals planning policy for Wales can be found here. This includes the Minerals Planning Policy (Wales)²⁹⁴ and the Minerals Technical Advice Note (Wales) for Aggregates²⁵².

The Northern Ireland Planning Service has information on the framework for minerals planning that exists there, while the Scottish Executive has published a draft Scottish Planning Policy on Mineral Working (SPP 4) for consultation. SPPs have recently replaced the former National Planning Policy Guides and cover all aspects of planning, including mineral working.

Mineral Planning Authorities

An MPA is a local authority that has responsibility for planning control over mineral working. The elected council members who sit on the planning committee (or equivalent) will be the people who make the decision as to whether or not to grant permission for a mineral working. They are served by a Mineral Planning Officer whose job it is to advise the elected representatives, who may or may not accept that advice. After permission is given, MPA officials monitor the site to make sure it is being operated within the terms of the permission and take action to enforce planning conditions if these are breached. MPA officials also draw up draft policies and plans for future development (with full public consultation), but elected members are responsible for the resulting draft minerals development plan.

Outside Greater London and the metropolitan areas, MPAs comprise county councils, National Park authorities and unitary authorities. In Greater London and the metropolitan areas, MPAs are respectively, the London borough councils and the Metropolitan district councils. MPAs are also waste planning authorities, responsible for the land use planning of facilities for the management of all forms of waste.

Further information on the planning authorities of the UK can be found in Annex 1 of this Planning section, and maps showing all MPAs in England and Wales can be downloaded below.


MWP Boundaries England (240K)
MWP Boundaries Wales (856K)