Many mineral planning authorities (county councils or unitary authorities responsible for mineral policy and planning) are reviewing their mineral local plans and calling for new sites to be put forward. This presents opportunities for landowners, who should use the call for sites as a trigger to scrutinise their property portfolios and to identify mineral resources for promotion.

During the last recession, many mineral operators were forced to rationalise and close sites and the development of new quarries and the replacement of mineral reserves, which are the lifeblood of the business, were halted. The result is the looming prospect of shortages and price rises. In addition, each mineral planning authority is required to have at least seven years' worth of accessible sand and gravel resource (10 years' rock resource) available to meet local development and infrastructure needs.

There’s only a limited time frame in which to make representations though and this varies between each council/authority, depending upon the status of its local plan, so advice should be sought on how best to maximise the chances of success. It’s relatively easy to carry out an initial geological appraisal which, if encouraging, can be followed up with a full geological borehole investigation and planning appraisal.

The quarrying industry is a cyclical business which is intimately linked to the fortunes of construction. Recently there has been resurgence in development output providing the potential for landowners to generate significant income through making representations to their mineral authority.

Further information

Read 'How farmers can make it pay to dig deep' or contact Savills Minerals & Waste Management