Non-aggregate minerals are those minerals which occur in sufficient quantities to be worked commercially within the JMLP area, and which are not used in the construction industry.  In the case of chalk used for aggregate purposes the planning considerations are considered in Chapter 4 above.  Those non-aggregate minerals which are, or may be worked are:

• chalk
• clay
• peat

The energy minerals of coal, oil and gas are dealt with separately in Chapter 6.

The chief difference in policy terms from aggregate minerals is that there are no national guidelines on specific production figures, and no regional apportionment to take into account in preparing the Plan.  As a result, it is not necessary to formulate policies specific to each mineral, since proposals to win and work non-aggregate minerals will be subject to the development control policies of the Plan, set out in Chapter 3.

The background to chalk working in the JMLP area for construction aggregates end-use has been discussed in Chapter 4, since that is the chief influence on forward planning for their supply.  However, the majority of the JMLP area's sales of these materials are for non-aggregate, i.e. industrial purposes, and this seems likely to continue, reflecting an increase in sales for industrial use in recent years.

As stated in Chapter 4, although there is no formal requirement for a landbank to satisfy non-aggregate demand, in calculating the landbank for aggregate crushed rock, it is not possible to divorce the two.  On the basis of recent and predicted sales of all crushed rock in the former Humberside area, the permitted reserves at 31.12.97 were 21.7 million tonnes (excluding Fenstone Quarries for which no figures are currently available).  The total crushed rock production in 1997 was 549,523 tonnes, and in 1996 689,652 tonnes.  Taking an approximate average of these figures, of 620,000 tonnes, there was a landbank equal to 35 years' production at the end of 1997.

Chalk is currently worked for industrial uses at 4 locations within the JMLP area, as shown below.

• Whiting/Carbonate Works:Lund, Melton, Huggate and Beverley

Chalk is also worked as an agricultural lime at Burnby Quarry and Huggate Chalk Quarry.

For each of these sites there are adequate permitted reserves to enable operations to continue for the duration of the plan period and beyond.  Notwithstanding this, these industries are involved in large scale capital investment and require long term certainty over mineral supplies.  As a consequence there may be circumstances where it is appropriate to grant consent for new areas of chalk extraction for industrial uses, during the Plan period. 

In the past, clay has been worked extensively in the vicinity of the Humber Estuary, chiefly for brick and tile manufacture.  The most extensive area of working has been along the south bank of the Humber between Barton and New Holland, where the flooded pits are now a conspicuous feature from the Humber Bridge.  Within the JMLP area there are working areas around Broomfleet serving a local tile works.

Although clay working has declined in scale since the turn of the 20th century, there is still a tile works at Broomfleet which supplies clay pantiles to the national and international markets.  There are extensive permissions associated with this works and it is important that these reserves are not sterilised by other forms of development and that a secure and uninterrupted supply of clay is maintained for this industry.

Clay has also been used for engineering purposes, and this use is on the increase.  There have been borrow pits supplying clay for flood defence banks for many years, but this use has increased with the more comprehensive and extensive flood defence works undertaken by the National Rivers Authority/Environment Agency along the Rivers Humber and Hull.  Another increasing need for clay is in connection with waste disposal.  The modern emphasis on disposal in contained sites means that there is a demand for clays of particularly low permeability for lining and capping waste disposal sites.

Disused clay pits have been attractive historically for waste disposal because of their impermeability and therefore good containment characteristics, but they have also been used for a range of recreational and nature conservation afteruses, and the MPAs will seek to encourage restoration to a high standard of beneficial afteruse.

Clay for engineering purposes is worked at sand and gravel sites including Keyingham, and Newton on Derwent.  For this reason, and due to the extent of permitted reserves of clay for building products manufacture within the JMLP area, the MPAs do not consider itnecessary to identify areas for clay working.  Clay occurring in existing sand and gravel workings which meets appropriate engineering specifications is a valuable resource.  As such, where applications for the working of clay at such sites are received they will be considered against the policy criteria set out in Chapter 3.

There are significant areas of peat bog in the JMLP area which are covered by planning permissions and, as a result, policies of the JMLP with regard to peat are concerned with the management of these existing permissions rather than the allocation of sites for future working.  The majority of these areas have historically been worked under  planning permissions granted in the 1940s which had only one condition attached: "working....shall be carried out so as not to endanger the stability of the surrounding land".  There were no requirements under this consent for the restoration of workings.

The planning consent covering the Goole Moors peat working was reviewed in 1997 under the provisions of the 1995 Environment Act which requires mineral planning authorities to review and update old mineral planning conditions.  As a consequence, although planning consent exists to work the Goole Moors for peat until 2023, an extensive set of planning conditions have been drawn up and agreed with the operator.  These include the implementation of a scheme to promote the restoration of the area at the completion of extraction, and the immediate use of 60% of the area to which the planning permissions relate for nature conservation purposes.

The peat deposits of the south west of the JMLP area on Goole Moors provide that area with one of its richest yet most threatened wildlife habitats.  Thorne, Crowle and Goole Moors SSSI, at nearly 2000 hectares is the largest lowland raised mire in England.  It has been designated as a candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC) under EC Directive  92/43 since 1995 with an extension in 2000, and together with parts of Hatfield Moor SSSI it was classified as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EC Directive 79/409 in 2000.  It is also a proposed Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention of 1971.  Parts of the site, including two areas of Goole Moor, were declared a national Nature Reserve (NNR) in 1995, known as the Humberhead Peatlands. Peatlands are rich in archaeological material which seldom survives elsewhere; ancient boats, bodies, track ways, and organic remains which have vanished from dry sites, all endure in peat bogs.  They are also a rich source of information about past environments and climate change.

Minerals Planning Policy Guidance on peat was issued for the first time as a draft MPG in September 1994, and this was formalised in 1995 in MPG13  Guidelines for Peat Production in England, including the place of Alternative Materials.  The main thrust of the guidance is that peat supplies for the next 10-20 years should in general be available from sites in the UK which have already been considerably damaged and which meet the selection criteria in the guidance note.  The criteria are set out in paragraph 5.19 below.

The guidance also sets out the predicted future demand for peat products, how this has been calculated, and the contribution that non-peat alternatives are expected to make.  Future estimates for demand for peat are based on observed trends 1988-1993, extrapolated and modified be pragmatic expectations of market behaviour.  It is predicted that there will be a continuing growth in demand for horticultural materials in both the professional and amateur gardening markets.  General predictions, making no allowances for further intervention and market changes, indicate that in broad terms demand will be 2.6 - 2.7 million m3 by year 2000 and 2.6 - 2.8 million m3 by 2005.

On the basis of these trends within the market the Government believes it is realistic to expect 40% of total soil improvement and growing medium market to be met by non-peat alternatives within the next 10 years (from 1995).  Notwithstanding this, there remains demand for peat in the medium to long term and this demand will need some new areas for extraction in the UK.  Taking account of existing permitted reserves and losses to them through updating rehabilitation requirements for existing permissions, together with areas given up for nature conservation, the guidance predicts that approximately 1000 ha may be needed over next 10-20 years.  It concludes that this should be available from sites in the UK which have already been considerably damaged and which meet the selection criteria in the guidance note.  The guidance stresses that this figure is not a target but an estimate based on current market conditions.

The guidance identifies criteria which Minerals Planning Authorities should consider for the selection of sites for future peat working, and notes that a key factor is to be as sure as possible that any areas identified can be translated into workable reserves.  MPAs should make reasonable efforts to satisfy themselves that sites are:

• of little or no nature conservation or archaeological value;
• of economically workable deposits;
• likely to become available to the minerals industry within the plan period;
• not constrained by other land-use policies (e.g. high quality agricultural land)

As noted above, the existing permissions at Goole Moors allow for working to continue until 2023 with production during that period estimated at over 1.5 million tonnes, dry weight, of peat.  Although the 2002 Agreement between The Scott Company (UK) Ltd and English Nature means that this production will not now take place the MPAs do not propose to identify any new areas for working or grant new consents during the Plan period other than in the exceptional circumstances noted in Policy NAM2.

The former Humberside County Council reviewed peatland within Humberside, and a programme of action was identified.  Officers worked closely with English Nature, and using a series of unopposed revocations and cooperative management plans, large areas of peat working have been secured for nature conservation.  Much of this success has been due to the cooperation of the single largest peat producer in the JMLP area; The Scotts Company (UK) Ltd, and the MPAs will continue to work toward similar agreements, aimed at reducing overall the area which will be worked for peat.

The MPAs will continue to seek the voluntary revocation of planning permissions for peat extraction and will review and update all planning permissions for peat extraction, in order to bring conditions up to a modern standard for operation and restoration.

The Governmenthas recommended that no compensation will be payable when bringing permissions upto modern standards, but it has also stated that there are to be no blanket revocations of permissions, although revocation could be necessary under the Habitats Regulations if continued working would affect the integrity of an SPA or SAC.  The MPAs will support the development of products and markets that are an alternative to peat.

Under the Habitats Regulations modifications or revocation of permissions would be necessary if continued working would affect the integrity of an SPA or cSAC.  This would be determined by a review of any permissions affecting the designated site.  An “appropriate assessment” under the Habitants Regulations was carried out in respect of the Moors in 2003 on behalf of ERYC acting jointly with Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council and North Lincolnshire Council.