Neighbourhood planning advice

Norfolk County Council is the Minerals and Waste Planning Authority, we:

• Produce the Minerals and Waste Local Plan for Norfolk
• Decide on planning applications related to minerals and waste.
• Inspect minerals and waste sites.

What is the Minerals and Waste Local Plan?

This plan is part of the planning framework for Norfolk. It works alongside local and neighbourhood plans. It's especially important when a planning application might affect safeguarded: 

• mineral extraction sites or mineral infrastructure (such as railheads and wharves) 
• waste management activities 
• mineral resources (sand and gravel, Carstone, and silica sand) 

Neighbourhood plans and minerals and waste

Minerals extraction and waste management development are outside the scope of neighbourhood plans. But they do need to consider these issues if they propose new development on or near protected sites.

This applies if the proposed development:

• Is over 2 hectares and located on a safeguarded mineral resource, or
• Is any size and within 250m of a safeguarded waste management site, mineral extraction site or mineral infrastructure.

You can check whether there are any existing safeguarded or allocated minerals or waste sites within your Neighbourhood Plan area on this Interactive Policies Map.

The Norfolk Minerals and Waste Local Plan (2025)  contains the minerals and waste safeguarding policies:

• Policy WP17: Safeguarding Waste Management Facilities
• Policy MP10: Safeguarding of port and rail facilities, and manufacturing facilities for concrete, asphalt and recycled materials
• Policy MP11: Mineral Safeguarding Areas and Mineral Consultation Areas

The list of safeguarded minerals and waste sites is published on the Annual Monitoring Reports webpage.

Allocation of sites

If you intend to allocate a site of more than 2 hectares for development and it is underlain by a Mineral Safeguarding Area. Then the allocation policy will need to:

• State that the site is underlain by a safeguarded mineral resource
• Include a requirement that "investigation and assessment of the mineral will be required at the planning application stage, potentially followed by extraction of minerals prior to development on the site to ensure that needless sterilisation of viable mineral resource does not take place".

If you intend to allocate a site that is located within 250m of a safeguarded mineral extraction site, safeguarded mineral infrastructure or a safeguarded waste management facility. You will need to:

• Demonstrate that the proposed development would not prevent or prejudice the use of the facility.  The 'agent of change' principal set out in paragraph 200 of the 2024 NPPF will also apply. 

We encourage the use of secondary and recycled aggregates in construction, to conserve minerals and reduce waste.  Therefore, we would support policies that encourage this. 

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