12.1.1 Maximising energy efficiency and reducing resource consumption in new development, or retro-fitting existing buildings, can help to reduce CO2 emissions and associated climate change effects. The Borough requires new developments to be as sustainable as possible, and to seek to move towards a low-carbon economy. Ways that development proposals can achieve this include reducing energy demand, and adopting sustainable methods of design and construction.
12.2.1 The River Thames and its tributaries is a dominant feature in the Borough. The Thames forms much of the northern boundary of the Borough and is a feature of eight parishes and an additional five wards. Fluvial flooding and flooding from local sources (for instance, from groundwater, surface water and sewers) are constraints to development in parts of the Borough which have been affected by serious flooding from the River Thames on a number of occasions in the last 100 years, with the risk of flooding predicted to increase as a result of climate change.
12.2.2 The Borough Local Plan (BLP) seeks to minimise the impact of climate change and one of the key ways to achieve this is by adapting to climate change through the careful management of flood risk. This requires local planning authorities to develop policies to manage flood risk from all sources, taking account of advice from the Environment Agency and other relevant flood risk management bodies, such as lead local flood authorities.
12.2.3 How to address the challenge of climate change and flooding is set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) also advises that the effective implementation of the NPPF on development within areas of flood risk does not remove the presumption in favour of sustainable development. The main source of flood risk in the Borough is fluvial flooding and although the Thames is the largest river in the Borough, there are a number of other watercourses including the Bourne Ditch, the Battle Bourne, Wraysbury and Horton Drains, that can contribute to potential flooding problems in local areas.
12.2.4 The Borough is also at risk of flooding from the Colne Brook, the Colne, the Cut, Strand Water and White Brook as well as a number of streams and ditches. However, flooding may also occur directly from rainfall, rising groundwater, the overwhelming of sewers and drainage systems or potentially from the failing of man-made features such as bunds, reservoirs and reservoir aqueducts, water supply tunnels, man-made lakes, and flood defence assets.
12.2.5 To help reduce flood risk to some urban areas in the Borough, the Jubilee River relief channel was developed, which provides an overflow storage channel for flood water. The Jubilee River scheme extends from Maidenhead to Eton (11.6 km in length), leaving the River Thames at Boulters weir and re-joining immediately upstream of Datchet, and has reduced the area of Maidenhead at risk from severe flooding. It was built as part of the Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton Flood Alleviation scheme, reducing the frequency and severity of flooding to properties within the Borough. The channel is designed to look and function as a natural living river, containing water all year round, and is sensitively landscaped to enhance the environment and create new habitats for wildlife in addition to reducing fluvial flood risk.
12.2.6 There is also a number of formal raised flood defences that affect flooding within the Borough. These include the Cookham Bund, North Maidenhead Bund, Datchet Golf Course, Battle Bourne, Windsor Bourne Flood Storage area embankment and Myrke Embankments.
12.2.7 The Borough has experienced major floods in 1894, 1947 and 2014. Other floods of lesser severity have occurred in 1954, 1959, 1974, 1981, 1990, 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2012. If not effectively managed, new development will affect the severity of flooding due to the resulting physical loss of floodwater storage capacity on a site and by impeding the flow of floodwaters across a site.
12.2.8 As a consequence, the Borough has operated a policy of constraining new development in areas with a high risk from flooding since 1978. This has been supported in an overwhelming number of cases at appeal. Locating inappropriate or poorly designed development in areas at risk of flooding will increase the impact of flooding in the future, putting more people at risk and increase the cost of damages to property
12.2.9 The Borough’s Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) Level 1 and Environment Agency (EA) flood maps show that it is predominantly locations along the River Thames that are at highest risk of flooding including, Wraysbury, Old Windsor, Cookham and Windsor. However, some other areas including around Waltham St Lawrence and White Waltham/Paley Street and up to Holyport, have flood risk owing to Twyford Brook and The Cut, which are both tributaries of the River Thames. Fluvial flood risk is therefore a constraint to development in several areas of the Borough which is not necessarily restricted to locations along the River Thames. Regard should be had to the Thames River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) produced by the Environment Agency.
12.2.10 In addition some areas are more prone to experiencing surface water flooding. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has introduced the concept of a ‘Surface Water Management Plan’ (SWMP) “which outlines the preferred surface water management strategy in a given location. In this context surface water flooding describes flooding from sewers, drains, groundwater, and runoff from land, small water courses and ditches that occurs as a result of heavy rainfall.
Regulations and guidance
12.2.11 The Flood Risk Regulations 2009 place a duty upon the Borough as a Lead Local Flood Authority to prepare a Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment (PFRA). The PFRA is a high level screening exercise that includes the collection of information on historic flood events, and potential, future, flood events.
12.2.12 The Borough’s PFRA was published in 2009 and the Flood Water Management Act 2010 requires the local authority to provide a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy which will need to include information on how local flood risk is to be managed and the actions that might be taken to manage flood risk. The Borough adopted its strategy in December 2014.
12.2.13 The Government also expects the Council to adopt a sequential risk-based approach to development and flood risk. At all levels of the planning process whether allocating land or when considering planning applications, new development should be steered towards areas at the lowest probability of flooding. The Borough’s Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA), most recently revised in 2017/18, refines information on the probability of flooding, taking other sources of flooding and the impacts of climate change into account. Applicants will be expected to provide a flood risk assessment for all proposals, including a change of use, in Flood Zones 2 and 3 and for applications over 1 hectare in Flood Zone 1, or ; land which has been identified by the Environment Agency as having critical drainage problems; land identified in a strategic flood risk assessment as being at increased flood risk in future; or land that may be subject to other sources of flooding, where its development would introduce a more vulnerable use.
12.2.14 In making decisions, the vulnerability and locational need of the proposed use should be taken into account. If, following the application of the sequential test, it is not possible, consistent with wider sustainability objectives, for a proposed development to be located in zones of lower probability of flooding, the ‘Exceptions Test’ should be applied where relevant to do so. Further guidance is available in the PPG.
12.2.15 Climate change projections for the UK indicate more frequent short-duration, high-intensity rainfall or more frequent periods of long-duration rainfall. This is likely to mean milder, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers. These changes will have implications for fluvial flooding and local flash flooding; subsequently the Government recognises that this will lead to increased and new risks of flooding within the lifetime of planned developments. In some areas there will also be increased risks from groundwater flooding such as in Datchet.
12.2.16 Fundamental to the BLP strategy is the avoidance of inappropriate development in areas liable to flooding through the adoption of a risk based approach. This approach is translated into 'Policy NR1 Managing Flood Risk and Waterways'. The policy also provides an opportunity to support and safeguard the Maidenhead Waterways and the River Thames Scheme (RTS). Channel 1 of the River Thames Scheme (within the Royal Borough from Datchet to Wraysbury) is not proceeding at present but will continue to be safeguarded in case funding can be secured and this part of the scheme delivered later in the Plan period.
12.2.17 Policy NR1(9) requires that development proposals near rivers should retain or provide an 8 metre buffer zone to ensure there is no increase in flood risk, to provide for maintenance access, and to create undeveloped wildlife corridors. Although this requirement will be strictly applied for main rivers, for ordinary watercourses this will be applied more flexibly and a smaller buffer may be appropriate in some circumstances, depending on the local context.
12.2.18 The Borough will continue to work with the Environment Agency, water companies and other partners and individuals to manage water and flooding matters, to promote development away from areas at risk of flooding. The Borough will work with applicants to ensure that development is appropriately located and does not result in unacceptable flood risk or drainage problems, in the locality or elsewhere. This will involve exploring mitigation measures to ensure that they are suitable, appropriate and economically viable.
Policy NR 1 Managing Flood Risk and Waterways
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12.4 Nature Conservation and Biodiversity
12.4.1 Planning has an important and positive role to play in protecting and enhancing the Borough’s biodiversity, including the conservation of protected species, and helping natural systems to adapt to the impact of climate change. This includes ensuring that opportunities for biodiversity improvement are sought and realised as part of development schemes.
12.4.2 Green networks and corridors provide opportunities for physical activity and increase accessibility within settlements and to the surrounding countryside. At the same time they enhance biodiversity and the quality of the external environment, and aid the movement of wildlife across its natural habitat.
12.4.3 Green networks and corridors can encompass many types of feature including grass verges, hedgerows, woodland, parks and many other elements. Planning has an important role to play to ensure that, where possible, development proposals contribute to the creation and enhancement of green corridors and networks.
12.4.4 The Local Plan will give appropriate weight to the roles performed by the area’s soils. These are valued as a finite multi-functional resource which underpins our wellbeing and prosperity. Decisions about development should take full account of the impact on soils, their intrinsic character and the sustainability of the many ecosystem services they deliver.
12.4.5 The plan will seek to safeguard the long term capability of best and most versatile agricultural land (Grades 1, 2 and 3a in the Agricultural Land Classification) as a resource for the future in line with National Planning Policy Framework to safeguard ‘best and most versatile’ agricultural land.
12.4.6 The high quality of the environment is a key feature of the Borough. Significant areas are recognised to be of importance in terms of nature conservation and landscape value. Environmental quality is also a major economic asset, with a healthy environment contributing to a strong local economy. Residents benefit from the high quality of the Borough’s environment, which is also of importance to both tourism and local businesses.
12.4.7 The Green and Blue Infrastructure Study (2019) presents the baseline for the green and blue infrastructure across the Borough, including by identifying and mapping biodiversity designations and priority habitats. It also sets out opportunities for improving biodiversity and green infrastructure, including through joining these assets into a more connected Nature Recovery Network and through urban greening. Taking account of this and other evidence, the Council is expected to adopt a Biodiversity Action Plan by the end of 2021 and the creation of a Nature Recovery Network forms part of its action plan. This evidence can and should be drawn on by developers in demonstrating that proposals can meet the requirements of Policy NR2 and NR3, including identifying areas for biodiversity improvements and avoiding the fragmentation of existing habitats.
12.4.8 The Borough’s ecological value is reflected in a number of international, national and local designations. International designations afford the highest level of protection. Those that apply to the Borough are Special Protection Areas (SPA), Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Ramsar sites (wetlands of international importance). National designations that apply in the Borough comprise Sites of Special Scientific Interest, while Local Wildlife Sites, formerly known as Wildlife Heritage Sites are designated at a local level.
12.4.9 These sites are designated independently from the Local Plan process. International designations often overlap in that more than one designation applies to a particular site. Sites in the area that currently have SPA and SAC designations are shown on the Policies Map and all international designations within the Borough are shown in below. Other, national designations also apply to many of these sites.
International designation |
Area wholly or partially within the Borough |
Chiltern Beechwoods SAC |
Bisham Woods |
South West London Water Bodies SPA and Ramsar |
Wraysbury and Hythe End Gravel Pits and Wraysbury No. 1 Gravel Pit |
Thames Basin Heaths SPA |
Chobham Common |
Thursley, Ash, Pirbright and Chobham SAC |
Chobham Common |
Windsor Forest and Great Park SAC |
Windsor Forest and Great Park |
Table 16 : International designations
Policy NR 2 Nature Conservation and Biodiversity
Biodiversity
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12.6.1 Trees, woodlands and hedgerows are an essential component of the Borough’s natural and built environment and make a major contribution to its green character. They bring considerable environmental, social and economic benefits, providing amenity value and benefits beyond contributing to the character and identity of varied landscapes.
12.6.2 They can help mitigate the impacts of climate change, improve air quality, reduce wind speeds, enhance biodiversity and help prevent flash floods. They play a major role in shaping the Borough’s environment and people’s appreciation of it.
12.6.3 They are an integral feature of landscapes and rural settings across the Borough, helping to achieve the objective of conserving and enhancing the special qualities of the Borough’s built and natural environment. Their loss either individually or cumulatively can have a significant impact on the character and amenity of an area.
12.6.4 Trees, woodlands and hedgerows have an important contribution to make towards protecting and enhancing the quality of the townscape, and achieving the highest quality of urban design. Similarly, trees and hedgerows in the urban fringe contribute significantly to landscape, historic, biodiversity and recreational values. Since unsuitable species, such as Leyland Cypress, may have an anti-social effect in the future, it is expected that planting schemes will carefully consider the selection of species. Native species of local provenance to be planted where appropriate.
12.6.5 A number of trees and woodlands in the Borough are designated for their amenity or landscape value, and have ‘Tree Preservation Orders’ or are afforded protection if within conservation areas. Similarly, countryside hedgerows considered important for their landscape, historical or wildlife value may be protected against removal within the scope of the Hedgerow Regulations 1997.
12.6.6 The retention of existing trees on a development site can help to soften the impact of new buildings and structures, as well as provide enhanced amenity and reduce the impact of vehicles in terms of noise and pollution. Trees and hedgerows, both new and existing, make an important contribution to the townscape of the Borough.
12.6.7 The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Tree and Woodland Strategy 2010-2020, which is due to be refreshed in 2021, provides the evidence base for trees and woodlands in the Royal Borough. It aims to ensure that trees and woodland contribute to a high quality natural environment and help to shape the built environment and new development in a way that strengthens the positive character and diversity of the Borough. The Green and Blue Infrastructure Study (2019) adds that within the urban context, street trees contribute to mitigating the urban heat island effect and therefore contribute to building the Borough's resilience to climate change.
Policy NR 3 Trees, Woodlands and Hedgerows
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12.8.1 A wide variety of valuable wildlife habitats exist in the Borough, including wetlands, Ancient Woodland and unimproved grasslands. Such a diverse range of habitats aids the survival of numerous species of flora and fauna, as well as enhancing the character and appearance of the rural environment. There are also areas which provide a nature conservation resource in urban areas, which can be of particular local value and amenity. This diversity of habitat is recognised by a number of official conservation designations in the Borough. These site designations are put in place independently of the Local Plan process, often by external bodies.
12.8.2 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are designated by Natural England as the very best wildlife and geological sites in the country. They support plants and animals that find it more difficult to survive in the wider countryside. Eleven such sites have been designated in the Borough, as follows:
12.8.3 Some SSSIs have further designations as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) or Ramsar sites. These are areas that have been given special protection under the European Union’s Habitats Directive. SACs provide increased protection to a variety of wild animals, plants and habitats and are a vital part of global efforts to conserve the world’s biodiversity. SPAs are areas that have been identified as being of international importance for the breeding, feeding, wintering or the migration of rare and vulnerable species of birds, while Ramsar sites are those that are of international importance as wetlands. Conserving habitats is a positive measure to aid the protected species and others that use them.
12.8.4 Local Wildlife Sites are non-statutory sites of significant value for the conservation of wildlife. They are identified by the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre, with formal designation being made by the Borough.
12.8.5 Local Wildlife Sites protect threatened habitats, which in turn protects the species making use of them. These habitats can act as buffers, stepping stones and corridors between nationally-designated wildlife sites. River corridors are an important part of green corridors and networks along with their buffer zones.
12.9.1 The Borough is committed to maintaining, protecting and enhancing the nature conservation resource in the Borough. It is important to ensure appropriate access to areas of wildlife importance and identify areas where there is the opportunity for biodiversity to be improved. Such opportunities, including restoring and creating links between sites, large-scale habitat restoration, enhancement and re-creation, should be pursued through development proposals.
12.9.2 The Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area is a European designated site which is accorded priority protection and conservation. Policy NR4 Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area reflects the unique legal and ecological issues arising from the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area and the potential for development to have an adverse impact on its integrity. It expands on the protection offered by Policy NR2: Nature Conservation and Biodiversity and implements a solution to enable the potential adverse effects of development to be mitigated.
12.9.3 The Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA) is designated under European Directives 79/409/EEC and 92/43/EEC because it offers breeding and feeding sites to populations of three heathland species of birds ; the Dartford warbler, Nightjar and Woodlark. It is a fragmented area extending across several local authority areas, and a small part of the Chobham Common section lies within the Borough at Sunningdale.
12.9.4 The five kilometre zone of influence of the SPA extends across eleven local authority areas. It covers much of the southern part of the Borough, including the settlements of Sunninghill, Sunningdale, Cheapside and most of Ascot.
12.9.5 The designation has a major impact on the potential for residential development both within the SPA and the areas adjoining it. New development which, either alone or in combination with other plans or projects, is likely to have a significant effect on the integrity of the SPA, requires an Appropriate Assessment under the Habitats Regulations. Judgements of whether the integrity of the site is likely to be adversely and significantly affected should be made in relation to the features for which the European site was designated and their conservation objectives according to the statutory requirements of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010.
12.9.6 Natural England has identified that net additional housing development up to five kilometres from the SPA, and large-scale housing development up to seven kilometres from the SPA, are likely to have a significant effect, either alone or in combination with other plans or projects, on the integrity of the SPA. Within this zone of influence, mitigation measures are required.
12.9.7 Similarly, Natural England has identified that an exclusion zone for new housing of 400 metres linear distance from the SPA is appropriate, as mitigation measures are unlikely to be effective so close to the SPA. To enable residential development within the zone of influence but outside the exclusion zone to come forward in a timely and efficient manner, this policy sets out the extent of mitigation measures required.
12.9.8 The Thames Basin Heaths Joint Strategic Partnership Board (made up of elected representatives from the local authorities affected by the Thames Basin Heaths SPA) has endorsed a Delivery Framework Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area Delivery Framework, 2009, which sets out a strategy for mitigating the impacts of development on the SPA. This framework explains that effective mitigation measures should comprise a combination of providing suitable areas for recreational use by residents (to draw recreational visits away from the SPA) and actions to monitor and manage access to the SPA itself. Such measures must be operational prior to occupation of new residential development, so as to ensure the integrity of the SPA is not damaged.
12.10.1 An alternative area for residents to use for recreation, in the form of a strategic Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG), has been provided in the Borough at Allen’s Field, south of Ascot. This 9.5 hectare site has been assessed as having the capacity to mitigate the impact of 462 new dwellings. The Council monitors permissions issued and developments commenced, and will use this work to ensure that no permissions are issued in excess of the mitigation capacity of Allen’s Field.
12.10.2 While capacity remains, the Allen’s Field SANG can be used to mitigate the impact of any sized residential development proposal within two kilometres of its boundary and inside the Borough. Proposals for fewer than ten dwellings do not need to fall within a relevant SANG catchment area, thus the Allen's Field SANG can also be used to mitigate the impact of proposals for a net increase of fewer than ten dwellings within five kilometres of the SPA and inside the Borough. The SPA includes a five kilometre zone of influence and 400 metre exclusion zone.
12.10.3 Future levels of housing development expected in the area of influence of the SPA will require appropriate mitigation and it is likely that new SANG land will need to be identified in the future. The Council will work with partner organisations to deliver an appropriate level of SANG mitigation to mitigate the impact of new development.
12.10.4 Land is identified on the Policies Map as a southern extension to Allen's Field that will increase its mitigation capacity by 84 dwellings. Further new SANG may be identified in due course subject to agreement with Natural England and the landowner. In certain circumstances, SANG land within Bracknell Forest can be used by developments located within the Royal Borough. Bracknell Forest Council supports development sites in the Royal Borough utilising SANG that is controlled by third party landowners in Bracknell Forest. However, this additional SANG source can only be utilised if the development site (comprising 10 dwellings or more) lies within the relevant Bracknell SANG catchment zone (4km or 5km, depending on the size of the SANG). For small windfall sites of 9 dwellings or fewer, there is no SANG distance catchment limit.
12.10.5 Where large developments are proposed, bespoke SANG mitigation may be necessary. Applicants should engage positively with Natural England to discuss appropriate mitigation, in light of the particular location and characteristics of the development proposed.
12.10.6 Measures proposed will be assessed on their own merits through the Habitats Regulations process. The mitigation measures adopted should be agreed with both the Council and Natural England, and secured by legal agreement. SANG size and associated catchment criteria are specified in the Thames Basin Heaths SPA Supplementary Planning Document.
12.11.1 Access management is delivered in the form of the Strategic Access Management and Monitoring project (SAMM). This project is provided at a strategic level, to ensure a consistent approach is used across the Thames Basin Heaths SPA and that improvements to one site do not have an adverse impact on others.
12.11.2 It delivers a suite of measures to monitor use of the SPA and manage access through a combination of education, surveys and physical works. To ensure appropriate provision for SAMM, contributions from development proposals across all authorities affected by the SPA are collected and pooled. Natural England is currently responsible for delivering the project across all relevant areas.
12.11.3 The Council has produced a Supplementary Planning Document on the application of mitigation measures regarding the SPA. This guidance will be revised and updated after adoption of the BLP.
Policy NR 4 Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area
Future SANG Provision
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12.13.1 Planning can make a significant contribution to both mitigating and adapting to climate change, through decision-making on the location, scale, mix and character of development. The 2008 Planning Act introduced a duty on local development plans to include policies which ensure that they make a contribution to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Reflecting this, one of the plan's objectives is to ensure that new development takes into account the need to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
12.13.2 National policy states that local planning authorities should adopt proactive strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change, that planning should provide resilience to the impacts of climate change, and support the delivery of renewable and low carbon energy and associated infrastructure. It also states that planning should support the transition to a low carbon future in a changing climate and encourage the use of renewable resources, for example by the development of renewable energy.
12.13.3 Applications for renewable energy may include solar farms, wind turbines, weir hydro-power, biomass, district heating, combined heat and power (CHP) from renewable resources and others. The visual impact of solar farms on the landscape and other sensitive areas will be a key consideration in determining applications.
12.13.4 Applications for biomass infrastructure should consider the transportation and the feasibility of combined heat and power. The Borough will generally be supportive of hydro-electric turbines along the River Thames.
12.13.5 A Written Statement by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government set out new considerations to be applied to proposed wind energy developments. It stated that when determining applications for wind energy development involving one or more turbines, local planning authorities should only grant permission if:
12.13.6 The Statement set out that maps showing the wind resource as favourable to wind turbines will not be sufficient and that suitable areas for wind energy development will need to have been clearly allocated in a Local or Neighbourhood Plan. The Borough commissioned a survey to assess potentially suitable and unsuitable sites for wind energy development across the Borough. Wind development suitability was assessed using mapping software to screen the Borough based on three key planning constraints:
12.13.7 In accordance with Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) guidance designated landscapes (National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs)) and international and national nature conservation areas (SPA, SACs, SSSIs etc.) should not be excluded as potential wind energy development sites. However, it is recognised that such designations are a constraint to wind energy development and wind energy developments will not normally be permitted in these areas.
12.13.8 Any wind energy proposals located within these designations will be assessed through the decision making process on planning applications and have not been used to determine areas classified as suitable or unsuitable for the purposes of the mapping exercise. Designations which have been identified as areas which are unsuitable for wind energy development include Ancient Woodland, Semi Natural Ancient Woodland, Scheduled Ancient Monuments and Registered Parks and Gardens.
12.13.9 Maps have been produced to illustrate the potential suitability for wind energy development across the Borough including one for small scale wind development(<50m in turbine height) and medium/large scale wind development (≥50 m in turbine tip height).
12.13.10 Wind energy proposals of more than 50 megawatts are currently decided by the Secretary of State for Energy with the Local Authority a statutory consultee. National guidance has indicated that the government intends to amend legislation to allow all onshore wind energy proposals to be determined by local authorities.
Policy NR 5 Renewable Energy Generation Schemes
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12.15.1 Minerals are an important, and finite, natural resource. It is important that viable mineral resources are "safeguarded" (protected) from unnecessary sterilization by non-mineral development. The emerging Joint Central and Eastern Berkshire Minerals and Waste Plan will identify Mineral Safeguarding Areas and encourage the prior extraction of minerals wherever possible and viable.
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