PAGE Campaign

County Council Cabinet meeting - 16 February

Following the submission of the Atkins report on minerals requirements, the Oxfordshire County Council Cabinet agreed the recommendation to put the preferred Minerals Strategy to public consultation and to write to central government to gain agreement on a reduced minerals quota for Oxfordshire.

The preferred Minerals Strategy was agreed in October, and there have been a number of amendments including the news that any minerals from South Oxfordshire would be met by the Cholsey area "as being the least constrained."  This compares to the previously identified areas of Drayton St Leonard / Stadhampton and Clifton Hampden.  Although this looks like welcome news for the PAGE communities, the Campaign team are keeping a close eye on the situation as there is still some resistance from the West Oxfordshire councillors to the preferred strategy.

The next step will be a countywide public consultation on both the preferred Waste and Minerals strategies in June / July 2011.

The Cabinet papers can be downloaded from the County Council website (scroll down to agenda item 20/11)

Atkins report on local minerals requirements

At the end of 2010, the County Council commissioned consultants Atkins to produce a robust local assessment of the quantities of sand and gravel and crushed rock that need to be supplied from quarries in Oxfordshire over the period to 2030.

This report also considered the potential supply of secondary and recycled materials and cross-boundary movements of minerals and was submitted to a County Council Cabinet meeting in Febriary 2011.   The report will be used as part of the evidence to central government to reduce the minerals target imposed on Oxfordshire.

The report can be downloaded from the County Council website.