A new joint minerals plan will guide future quarrying and extraction across Nottinghamshire and Nottingham up to 2045, with residents due to be consulted on how sites should be chosen and communities protected.
Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council are preparing the plan together. A scoping document sets out a consultation scheduled to run from 12 October until 5pm on 9 November 2026.
No new extraction sites are proposed for allocation at this stage. Instead, the councils are seeking views on how much mineral will be needed, how potential sites should be assessed and what safeguards should apply.
The document says allocations are expected to be needed to meet future demand. A call for sites is planned for early 2027, when mineral operators and landowners will be able to submit land for consideration.
The plan would influence where future extraction takes place, how minerals are transported and how land is restored afterwards. However, identifying a location as suitable in the strategy would not automatically grant planning permission. Individual proposals would still need to be assessed against relevant planning policies.
The councils currently have separate arrangements. Nottinghamshire’s Minerals Local Plan was adopted in March 2021, while Nottingham’s minerals policies form part of its Local Plan Part 2, adopted in January 2020.
The document says both now require updating. The authorities already work jointly on waste planning and adopted a shared Waste Local Plan in September 2025.
Work on the minerals plan is continuing despite uncertainty over local government reorganisation. The document records the Government’s announcement on 7 September 2026 that reorganisation in Nottinghamshire and Nottingham would be paused while a review takes place.
It says government guidance is clear that this should not delay preparation of local plans. A joint minerals plan covering the existing city and county areas is intended to allow any successor authorities to continue the work.
Adoption is anticipated in September 2029, with the plan covering the period to 2045. Nottingham City Council’s separate Local Plan review will not cover minerals, which are intended to be addressed through this joint document.
Among the issues for consultation is how to balance the supply of materials for homes, roads, manufacturing and infrastructure with the effects of extraction on communities, landscapes and wildlife.
The councils are asking whether nature recovery, market demand or sustainable transport should be the leading consideration in shaping the strategy for locating mineral development. All three would remain relevant, alongside the need to secure sufficient supplies.
The document identifies depletion of sand and gravel resources in the Idle Valley as a challenge. It also highlights the effects of extensive flooding in the Trent Valley on mineral sales in 2023 and 2024.
Sand and gravel is Nottinghamshire’s main aggregate product. Three possible annual provision rates are presented: 1.20 million tonnes, based on average sales between 2016 and 2025; 1.32 million tonnes, excluding the pandemic year of 2020 and the flood-affected years of 2023 and 2024; or the current plan’s rate of 1.70 million tonnes.
The choice would help determine the estimated requirement over the plan period and how many sites might need to be allocated. The document does not select an option.
For Sherwood Sandstone, a specialist sand used mainly for asphalt and mortar, the proposed alternatives are 320,000, 340,000 or 370,000 tonnes a year. These use different sales averages, including an option that excludes the low recorded during 2020.
The councils are also asking how to account for sites that already have permission but are inactive, particularly where it is unclear when extraction might resume.
Crushed rock resources are concentrated in western Nottinghamshire, with larger resources and sites in neighbouring Derbyshire. The document says Nottinghamshire imports crushed rock primarily from Derbyshire and Leicestershire.
At Nether Langwith, it identifies 3.34 million tonnes of permitted reserves but says the site has been inactive for 18 years. The councils propose considering an annual requirement of 1.05 million tonnes, based on average imports recorded in national surveys in 2019 and 2023, and are seeking views on that approach.
For brick clay, the document identifies established brickworks with active extraction areas at Dorket Head and Kirton. The councils intend to use information from operators about capacity and demand to establish future requirements and whether further land should be allocated.
Gypsum is currently worked at East Leake and Bantycock, near Newark, according to the document. The councils propose discussions with British Gypsum to establish whether additional reserves and sites will be needed.
The document also records one site extracting silica sand in Nottinghamshire, although it does not name the location. It describes the material as a specialist industrial sand with a national market and proposes working with operators to assess future demand.
No industrial dolomite is currently worked in Nottinghamshire. The councils would consider suitable sites if operators put them forward and demonstrated a need.
For building stone, the document identifies one permitted extraction site near Linby and names Yellowstone as the site safeguarded by the existing policy. It says building stone helps preserve local character and the historic environment.
The plan would also address oil and gas exploration, appraisal and production within licensed areas. Sites could be considered for allocation if submitted by operators and judged appropriate, but none are identified in this consultation document.
On coal, the document says national policy does not support allocating new extraction sites or extensions. It asks whether surface coal resources should continue to be safeguarded.
The scoping document does not provide a complete list of existing quarries. It refers readers to a separate draft Local Aggregates Assessment for permitted sand and gravel and Sherwood Sandstone sites.
For communities near mineral workings, proposed local policies would address vehicle routes, mud on roads, landscape impacts and restoration.
The transport strategy could favour locations able to use barges, rail or pipelines, or those close to main roads where residential areas and minor roads could be avoided. The River Trent is identified as an opportunity for barge transport.
The document acknowledges that alternatives to road transport are not always practical or economical. It says three existing wharves would continue to be safeguarded, although these are not named, and that there are currently no railheads able to transport minerals.
Specific protections are proposed for several environmentally or historically sensitive areas.
Around Sherwood Forest, the councils want a local policy addressing an area being considered for possible future Special Protection Area status. The document says it is not yet designated and proposes a precautionary assessment approach to mineral development nearby.
At South Muskham, the councils propose retaining the existing presumption against mineral extraction within an archaeological resource area. The document describes it as containing one of the densest concentrations of known archaeological remains in the Trent Valley, although the full extent of the resource is not understood.
A similar restriction is being considered around Holbeck, linked to the wider heritage assets of Creswell. The councils are asking whether this area should also be protected from future mineral extraction.
Restoration policies would seek to ensure worked land is returned to a condition appropriate to its surroundings, with benefits for habitats, landscapes, heritage or community use. Proposed requirements include detailed restoration plans and aftercare lasting at least five years, or longer where necessary.
The councils also want to encourage recycled and secondary aggregates to help reduce demand.
Following the consultation, responses will inform the developing plan and site assessment process. A further consultation on its content, including a draft vision, strategy and potentially draft policies, is currently planned for November 2027. The document says the timetable may change.
Residents will be able to respond through the councils’ online consultation portal, by email to MineralsLocalPlan@nottscc.gov.uk, or by post to the Planning Policy Team, Nottinghamshire County Council, County Hall, Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, NG2 7QP.
Email and postal responses should include the respondent’s name, contact details, the document being commented on and the relevant question numbers. The deadline is 5pm on Monday 9 November 2026. The councils say respondents’ names and comments will be published.
