Frequently Asked Questions

The adopted Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2013-30 (KMWLP) sets out the County Council’s 15-year strategy and policy framework for minerals and waste development in Kent. 

The Plan includes strategic policies for minerals and waste development, as well as development management policies. The KMWLP together with the Kent Mineral Sites Plan form part of the Development Plan which sets out how planning applications, and appeals, are to be considered for mineral and waste management development. 

The KMWLP was adopted by Kent County Council in July 2016. Following its adoption, an Early Partial Review (EPR) was undertaken which resulted in some limited changes in respect of waste management capacity required to maintain net self-sufficiency and to improve the effectiveness of policies intended to safeguard mineral supply and waste management capacity. The KMWLP, as amended by the EPR, was adopted in September 2020. 

Following a requirement to review the Local Plan every 5 years, the Council is proposing a number of revisions to the adopted plan. These are set out in the Pre-Submission Draft of the Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2024-39. These changes are all shown clearly in a tracked change version of the document.

The updates in our emerging Local Plan reflect and include the following matters:

• updates to the National Planning Policy Framework and associated Planning Practice Guidance;
• legislation and policy concerning: The need to adapt to, and mitigate, climate change and, associated low carbon growth;
• policy and legislation concerned with achieving a circular economy where more waste is prevented or reused;
• adoption by the County Council of the Kent Environment Strategy and Kent and Medway Energy and Low Emissions Strategy;
• extending the plan period to 2039;
• updates to aggregate requirements in Policy CSM2 and waste management targets in Policy CSW4;
• deletion of Policy CSM5 that allocates a strategic site for minerals (as planning permission has been granted);
• deletion of Policy CSW5 that allocates a strategic site at Norwood Quarry, Isle of Sheppey for the landfill of hazardous waste specifically incinerator fly ash;
• a recognition within supporting text of the need for the development of additional capacity for the management of household waste identified by the Waste Disposal Authority;
• removal of a commitment to make specific provision for the management of residual non-hazardous waste by landfill or energy recovery that arises in London;
• changes to Policy CSW17 relating to waste management at Dungeness to ensure consistency with national policy;
• a change to Policy DM3 that seeks the achievement of maximum practicable biodiversity net gain;
• changes to settlement boundaries affecting the extent of areas identified where the presence of economic minerals needs to be taken into account before surface development can take place (‘Mineral Safeguarding Areas’);
• changes to the monitoring framework to ensure it properly reflects the updated policies; and,
• a number of further changes intended to improve the clarity of the Plan’s wording and hence the meaning of certain objectives and policies are also proposed.

The changes proposed in the Pre-Submission Draft of the Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2024-2039 have already been subject to three public consultations and the views received have informed the Pre-Submission Draft Plan. 

This version of the Local Plan is the County Council’s final draft that it intends to submit to the Secretary of State for Independent Examination.

Prior to submission to the Secretary of State, there is a further six-week period of consultation where the Council invites comments on the Pre-Submission Draft Plan. This consultation seeks views on whether the Pre-Submission Draft Plan is: 

• ‘sound’ - that is, whether it has been positively prepared, is justified, is effective and is consistent with national policy; and 
• legally compliant – that it is prepared in accordance with legislation governing plan making. 

Guidance notes on ‘soundness’ and ‘legal compliance’ and how you can make representations are available in the Document section.

Any written representations received before the end of the six-week period will be sent by Kent County Council to the appointed Planning Inspector for consideration alongside the submitted Plan. 

Yes, full responses will be submitted to the Planning Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Independent Examination. A summary of the responses will be made publicly available on our website with all personal data removed. 

Please read our privacy statement for further details.

Once the consultation has closed, the Minerals and Waste Planning Policy Team will collate all of the comments received and forward them to the Planning Inspectorate for consideration as part of the examination of the Plan.

Kent County Council, as the Minerals and Waste Planning Authority for Kent, has a statutory responsibility to plan for future minerals supply and waste management capacity in Kent. This is to ensure economic minerals, which are necessary to meet society’s needs, are provided and waste is sustainably managed, whilst also protecting communities and the environment. 

We do this through our Minerals and Waste Local Plan and subsequent planning applications. The Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2013-30 was adopted by the County Council in July 2016, and was subject to some limited changes as part of an Early Partial Review which was adopted in September 2020. We are currently reviewing the Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan as a result of a statutory 5-year review that was completed in 2021.

Economic minerals are naturally occurring materials found in the earth’s crust that are used by society for a wide variety of applications such as construction and industrial production purposes. In Kent, at this time, important economic minerals include aggregate forming materials comprising:

• soft sand for mortar production
• sharp sand, gravel and hard rock for road construction and concrete manufacturing

Industrial minerals in Kent include brickearth that is used to produce construction bricks. 

Other industrial minerals which are important include clay for land engineering purposes and silica sand which is used in a variety of applications including glass making and water filtration. 

Chalk used to be extracted for cement manufacture but is now only used in the County for agricultural liming.

More information on minerals worked in Kent can be found in the Pre-Submission Draft Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan.

The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended) and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) state that Local Plans should be reviewed at least once every five years to assess whether they need updating and should then be updated as necessary. The statutory reviews of Local Plans ensure that they remain relevant and fit for purpose and that planning policies, including targets, are still valid, effective and deliverable.