The Winter Hill quarrying disaster 2
PLANNING APPLICATION DECISIONS are subject to planning policy. Local planning authorities like Bolton Council don't have a free hand to do what they like. The Council's Planning Committee is expected to conform to the National Planning Policy Framework, the Greater Manchester Minerals Plan, Greater Manchester's Places for Everyone Joint Development Plan for Bolton, and the Council's Development Plan Core Strategy. The Council also has Supplementary Planning Documents for specific areas.
Mineral planning
Various areas of land thoughout the UK are 'safeguarded' for their potential to provide minerals for the British economy. A Minerals Safeguarding Area (MSA) is a designated area that protects known mineral resources from being unnecessarily sterilized by non-mineral development such as building developments. Their purpose is to ensure that mineral resources can be extracted in the future if they become commercially viable. It does not mean they will but they might be.
Mineral planning authorities deal with mineral planning issues within their areas. A large part of Winter Hill is in the Borough of Bolton and Bolton is in Greater Manchester so the Greater Manchester Joint Minerals Plan applies to Winter Hill through Bolton Council's Development Plan. The parts of Winter Hill in Lancashire come under the Joint Lancashire Minerals and Waste Local Plan. It too has Mineral Safeguarding Areas on Winter Hill but there are only two quarries and they are in Bolton – in Horwich to be more precise. They are Montcliffe Quarry and Pilkington Quarry, both of which go back over a hundred years.
Winter Hill is part of the West Pennine Moors and largely Green Belt but this doesn't prevent it from being quarried. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) talks about safeguarding and the 'great weight' that local planning authorities like Bolton should give to the benefits of mineral extraction. It says development in the Green Belt is inappropriate in most cases but with some exceptions. Mineral extraction is not inappropriate in the Green Belt provided it preserves openness.
Greater Manchester Joint Minerals Plan
Policy 1 of the plan refers to a 'presumption in favour of sustainable minerals development' unless other material considerations indicate otherwise. Policy 2 states that 'proposals for minerals working or the provision of minerals infrastructure will be permitted where any adverse impacts on the following criteria is avoided or can be appropriately mitigated', including landscape and visual intrusion. Policy 13 is about restoration and aftercare. 'Applications for minerals extraction will be permitted where they are accompanied by appropriate proposals for site restoration and aftercare. This should include the following:'
1. Details of the final restoration scheme and proposed future land use;
2. Details of timescales for completion of restoration including details of completion of individual phases of restoration where a progressive restoration scheme is proposed;
3. Details of aftercare arrangements that are to be put in place to ensure the maintenance and management of the site once restoration is complete.
In defining the future land use for a site, restoration should be geared towards improvement of final landuse and should (amongst other things) 'take account of the pre-working character of the site and its landscape setting' and 'provide for the enhancement of the quality of the landscape'.
Bolton Council's Development Plan
Bolton Council's Core Strategy Development Plan for Horwich and Blackrod states that "Development for minerals workings will conform to national policies for minerals extraction. Developers will need to ensure that minerals workings are within acceptable environmental parameters." It also says:
- Policy OA1.8: Protect significant recreational areas in the West Pennine Moors.
- Policy OA1.9: Conserve and enhance the character of the existing landscape and physical environment.
- Policy OA1.11: Ensure that new development does not harm the landscape setting.
It does not by any means follow that land in a Mineral Safeguarding Area is likely to be quarried. The 'presumption in favour of sustainable minerals development' is subject to 'other material considerations [that may] indicate otherwise'. Other policies such as those to 'ensure that new development does not harm the landscape setting' and require 'proposals for site restoration and aftercare'. Only a tiny proportion of safeguarded land is acceptable for mineral extraction and actually quarried.
Nor are planning policies always hard and fast. Their terminology has scope for interpretation. 'Planning balance', 'planning judgement', 'great weight', 'severe harm', 'presumption against', 'not inappropriate', 'very special circumstances' and so on are phrases that often appear in planning decisions. Subjective opinion ultimately comes down to the subjective opinion of a Planning Inspector (as it did with Montcliffe Quarry) or very occasionally, High Court Judges.
The planning system is also shaped by planning case law that interprets the meaning and application of planning Acts and policies to ensure consistency in their implementation. Planning cases can involve judicial review of local planning authority decisions as lawful and reasonable. Ultimately all planning in England and Wales comes under the national umbrella of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
This page outlines some of the context for the various planning applications received by Bolton Council for Montcliffe Quarry in the approximate period 2014 to 2024. The rest of the context is Winter Hill (next page).
