As Minerals and Waste Planning Authority, we are responsible for the preparation of Minerals and Waste Plans in Devon (excluding Plymouth, Torbay and the National Parks of Dartmoor and Exmoor, who are separate planning authorities and prepare their own plans).
If you’d like to contact us regarding any issues relating to minerals or waste policy please email either mineralsplanning@devon.gov.uk or wasteplanning@devon.gov.uk
There are over 50 quarries that are either operational or likely to have further working in Devon, and there is a similar number that have planning permission but are unlikely to re-open. Devon’s diverse geology is reflected in the wide range of mineral resources that are produced in the county, ranging from construction aggregates and building stone to internationally important industrial minerals such as ball clay and china clay.
We have the responsibility of setting out how and where minerals should be worked in Devon, and ensuring that minerals sites are managed and restored to protect Devon’s environment and communities.
The new Devon Minerals Plan 2011-2033 was adopted in February 2017 and provides the minerals policy framework for Devon over the period to 2033.
To assist in implementation of Policy M2 of the Devon Minerals Plan, Devon County Council has published a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for Mineral Safeguarding.
Local Aggregate Assessments for Devon
In 2031, it is estimated that over 1,800,000 tonnes of waste will be produced in Devon, made up of household, commercial, industrial, construction and hazardous waste.
We have a responsibility to produce the planning policy framework for the facilities that are needed to manage this waste, guiding the amount, their location and the type of management while also ensuring the protection of Devon’s environment, communities and businesses.
The Devon Waste Plan was adopted in December 2014 sets out the current policy framework for waste management facilities in Devon and covers the period to 2031.
Following adoption of the Devon Waste Plan, we have published the Waste Management and Infrastructure Supplementary Planning Document to assist in the Plan’s implementation.
This sets out the programme of production of the Devon Minerals Plan, the Devon Waste Plan and any other document the Council is looking to produce. The Fifth Revision of the Scheme was published on 26th March 2018.
We produce Monitoring Reports annually to assess the performance in implementing the Minerals and Waste Development Scheme and the adopted policies. All Monitoring Reports that have been produced are listed below. From 2004/05 to 2012/13, each Annual Monitoring Report addressed both minerals and waste and covered the period from 1 April to 31 March. However, from 2013, separate reports have been produced for minerals (covering the calendar year) and waste (covering the financial year) to reflect the different periods for which the relevant data are collected.
A core principle of the National Planning Policy Framework is that local people should be empowered to shape their surroundings, with the Framework advocating “early and meaningful engagement and collaboration with neighbourhoods, local organisations and businesses”.
To ensure effective involvement of local communities in the preparation of its Plans, together with consideration of planning applications, we have prepared a Statement of Community Involvement which sets out the methods of involving the community. This was approved by the County Council’s Development Management Committee in September 2020.
While the Statement of Community Involvement advises that copies of planning applications are available for inspection at Council offices, this is not currently possible due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, all planning applications remain available to view online using the ‘Search and comment on applications’ button at the top of this page.