5 Land and resources

It is important that resources are protected and safeguarded through Local Plan policies. Some of the main components of land and resources for the purpose of this scoping report are mineral resources, geological and geomorphological resources and agricultural land. Regard should also be given to the ways in which vacant, derelict and contaminated land can be managed and redeveloped.

5.1 Policy context

International

There are no specific international policies or legislation that have a significant impact on land and resources.

National

Section 97 of Part II of Schedule 5 and Schedule 9 to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 establishes a range of orders for mineral planning authorities to control minerals development.

The Managed Aggregates Supply System (MASS) seeks to ensure a steady and adequate supply of aggregates in England, taking into account the geographical imbalances in occurrence and need of suitable aggregates resources. It involves national, sub-national and local partners working together from minerals planning authorities at the local level, Aggregate Working Parties at the sub-national level and a National Aggregate Coordinating Group who monitor the overall provision of aggregate in England. CW&C is a member of the Northwest Aggregate Working Party (AWP). The AWP are consulted annually on the draft Local Aggregate Assessments (LAAs) and ratify the final versions.

The Mineral Products Association have estimated that each home requires 200 tonnes of aggregates. Aggregates are also required for many other uses such as concrete production, road construction, rail infrastructure and flood defences. 

Developers and local planning authorities (LPAs) should refer to government policies and legislation when considering development proposals that affect agricultural land and soils. They aim to protect and manage all soils, especially, the best and most versatile (BMV) agricultural land from significant, inappropriate or unsustainable development proposals. Natural England uses these policies to advise on development proposals as a statutory consultee in the planning process. 

A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment (2018) sets out the government’s 25-year plan to improve the health of the environment by using natural resources more sustainably and efficiently

Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Sites (RIGS) is a non-statutory designation intended to help protect areas of geological importance. These can be designated for scientific significance, aesthetics, historical importance or educational purposes. CW&C has a number of sites of importance, some crossing administrative boundaries. RIGS in Cheshire are identified by a Cheshire RIGS Group. RIGS complement the series of statutorily designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest, but do not receive any statutory protection other than through the policies contained in Development Plan Documents. 

CW&C also has some contaminated land and the Environmental Protection Team identify, investigate and manage such land within the borough. Land can be contaminated by substances such as heavy metals, such as arsenic, cadmium and lead, oils and tars, chemical substances and preparations, like solvents, gases, asbestos and radioactive substances. Contaminated land may previously have been used as a factory, mine, refinery or landfill for example. A dataset of polygons with an attribute table that summarises the location and status of land recorded within the public register kept under the Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 by the government (Contaminated Land Part IIA public register- data.gov.uk).

Chapter 11 of the NPPF relates to facilitating the sustainable use of minerals and states that “since minerals are a finite natural resource, and can only be worked where they are found, best use needs to be made of them to secure their long-term conservation”.  Policy M1 of the NPPF sets out that planning policies should provide for a sufficient and timely supply of minerals of national and local importance. It also states that the development plan should use the Local Aggregate Assessment, the advice of the Aggregate Working Parties and National Aggregate Co-ordinating Group and any published national or sub-national guidelines on future supply to identify the provision needed in the plan area. It also identifies that the development plan should allocate sites or identify preferred areas to maintain this provision, including landbanks of at least seven years for sand and gravel and calculate and maintain separate landbanks for aggregate minerals of a specific type or quality. The development plan should also ensure that large landbanks bound up in very few sites do not stifle competition.

Policy M1(4) identifies that in relation to oil and gas, the development plan should distinguish between, and plan for, the three phases of development (exploration, appraisal and production) within licences areas. Policy M1(6) refers to the need for development plan policies to take account of the contribution that substitute or secondary and recycled minerals and minerals waste can make to supply.

Policy M2 of the NPPF relates to safeguarding mineral resources and infrastructure and this identifies that the development plan should:

• define Mineral Safeguarding Areas;
• where necessary to prevent the sterilisation of mineral resources, require the prior extraction of minerals on sites allocated for non-mineral development, where practical and environmentally feasible; and
• identify existing, planned and potential sites which need to be safeguarded as they provide minerals related infrastructure.

The PPG on minerals provides additional details relating to minerals safeguarding, planning for mineral extraction and restoration and aftercare of minerals sites.

5.2 Baseline information

Soils in the borough are predominantly slow permeable loams and clays, although the Sandstone Ridge (running down the eastern part of the borough) is characterised by freely draining loamy and sandy soils. The marshland and coastal flats near the areas of Frodsham, Helsby, Parkgate and Neston are naturally wet loamy and clayey soils. 

CW&C has a legacy of industrial, manufacturing and waste disposal activities that have the potential to result in land contamination. The Council regulates contaminated land under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and has prepared a Contaminated Land Strategy (2026-2031) in line with this. As of 2026, six sites within the borough have been formally determined as contaminated land and are recorded on the Council’s public register. The majority of land contamination issues are addressed through the development management process rather than formal determination. A major investigation of the former Commonside landfill site at Alvanley was ongoing during 2026 to assess whether the site meets the statutory definition of contaminated land. Overall, the extent of formally determined contaminated land within the borough remains limited, although the presence of former industrial land, landfill sites and potentially contaminated brownfield land continues to represent an important planning and sustainability consideration.

The form and landscape of Cheshire West, a low, flat plain with a series of small prominent sandstone ridges, is reflective of its geology. The Cheshire Plain extends from the broad Mersey Valley, in the north, to the Shropshire Hills in the south. To the west the plain is bounded by the hills of the Welsh borders, and to the north-east by the foothills of the Pennines. Apart from a small outcrop of Carboniferous rocks in the north-east corner of the County, the solid geology of Cheshire West comprises Triassic mudstones and sandstones that were deposited on a wide desert plain. These rocks are throughout Cheshire overlain by Quaternary glacial deposits, largely consisting of till (or boulder clay), with local deposits of silt, peat, sand and gravels.

Rising up from the Plain are a number of small sandstone ridges and scarps formed from the Lower Triassic Sherwood Sandstone, such as the northern end of an outcrop which runs through central Cheshire between Malpas and Tarporley (this is the Peckforton Hills).

The borough contains a significant agricultural land resource associated with the Cheshire Plain. Much of the borough is characterised by productive lowland agricultural soils, including areas of Best and Most Versatile agricultural land (Grades 1,2 and 3a) which are recognised as finite national resource. These soils support food production, biodiversity, carbon storage, water regulation and wider ecosystem services. The principal pressures on soil resources arise from development-related land take, soil sealing, agricultural intensification, erosion, compaction and historic land contamination associated with former industrial and waste management activities. The protection and enhancement of soil quality and the efficient use of previously developed land remain important sustainability issues for the borough.

The Council maintains a Brownfield Land Register which identifies sites considered suitable (subject to Local Plan policies and guidance), and available for housing-led development. The current brownfield land register, published in 2025, identifies 118 sites without planning permission, with an estimated capacity of around 4,385 units. The efficient reuse of previously developed land represents a key sustainability opportunity, supporting urban regeneration, reducing pressure on greenfield land and helping to minimise the loss of agricultural soils and other natural resources. Nevertheless, some brownfield sites may require remediation due to contamination or other environmental constraints.

The key mineral resources present in the borough are sand and gravel, salt and coalbed methane. There are currently two active sand and gravel sites within the borough – Crown Farm quarry in Delamere (also known as Cheshire Sands) and Forest Hill Quarry in Sandiway. There is also one industrial silica sand site (Rudheath Lodge), which is partly within CW&C and partly within Cheshire East. This site produces both industrial silica sand and aggregate sand. 

CW&C has no crushed rock reserves and no dimension stone is currently extracted in the borough, but sandstone was extracted in the area in the past. 

An extension to Crown Farm quarry (planning application 23/00320/FUL) was granted in April 2025. This is for a lateral and deepening extension of the approved excavation area for the winning and working of an additional 5.58 million tonnes of sand along with the remaining approved reserves and provision of ancillary electrical substations. This is for mineral extraction to 22 February 2042 and restoration to be completed within a further 12 months of the cessation of mineral extraction.

Salt is present in extensive areas underlying the borough in both its solid form as rock salt and in solution as brine. Rock salt is currently mined underground at the Winsford Rock Salt Mine, which currently has a capacity of around 2.25 million tonnes per year. The voids created by the extraction are also of strategic importance being used for document storage (archiving services) and contributing to hazardous waste storage capacity. 

Salt is also extracted in solution at the Holford Brinefields. The brine is extracted at numerous wells which supply works in Northwich for use in industrial processes.  Some of the cavities created at Holford Brinefields also contribute to the nationally significant gas storage.

Coal underlies parts of the borough, but no extraction currently takes place.  In addition, hydrocarbons are found in sandstone and limestone reservoirs beneath the borough in the form of coal bed methane and shale gas. Several exploratory borehole sites were permitted and two have permission for the production phase of coalbed methane extraction. These permissions do not allow for the exploration, appraisal and/or production of shale gas.

According to the Mineral Products Association Profile of the UK Mineral Products Industry (2025) 31% of aggregates in Great Britain are from recycled and secondary sources. 

There are currently 24 RIGS within CW&C, covering 174 hectares.

5.3 Recent changes and anticipated trends

The CW&C LAA 2025 covers sales and reserves data from January 2024-December 2024. This identifies that sales of sand and gravel aggregate from within the borough started relatively low in 2015 at 0.60 million tonnes per annum and increased to a high point during 2018 and 2019 of 0.80 million tonnes per annum. Sales have generally decreased since 2019, possibly due to the Covid pandemic and associated impacts on the economy and housebuilding. The sales reached a low of 0.54 million tonnes per annum in 2023 and increased to 0.69 tonnes per annum in 2024. The aggregate reserves in CW&C were 8 million tonnes in 2015. They decreased to a low of 2.94 million tonnes in 2023 and rose to 3.06 million tonnes in 2024, due to a recalculation of reserves at Crown Farm quarry. As mentioned above, since then there has been an extension approved to Crown Farm quarry, for the winning and working of an additional 5.58 million tonnes of sand. This will add significantly to the reserves.

5.4 Evidence gaps and proposed work

The annual Local Aggregate Assessments for CW&C provide up-to-date data for main quarry operators. However, there is a gap in evidence for secondary and recycled aggregates within CW&C as the minerals surveys tend to have very low response rates from secondary and recycled aggregate operators.

The evidence and consultation work undertaken for the Local Plan (Part One and Part Two) in relation to minerals may need to be updated. This includes:

• Consultation on mineral safeguarding undertaken for the Local Plan (Part One) in 2012.
• This included Mineral Safeguarding Areas, buffer zones and mineral infrastructure sites. Further work may be required to review the Mineral Safeguarding Areas, buffer zones and check for new minerals infrastructure. 

CW&C currently imports all crushed rock and liaison with relevant local authorities who provide crushed rock to CW&C will be required to check if this can continue.

5.5 Local Plan scope and influence

The Local Plan can allocate new sites for minerals development and can also identify preferred areas (where minerals development will be supported) and areas of search (where knowledge of mineral resources is less certain, but proposals for minerals development will be supported where it can be demonstrated that the permitted reserves, allocated sites and preferred areas cannot meet the required level of provision). It is difficult to identify new sites as minerals can only be worked where they are found and many of the mineral resource areas have already been sterilised or are significantly constrained.

Natural England has identified that areas of peat deposits should not be built on due to potential impacts on carbon emissions. The Local Plan could control development in peat areas. Some collaborative work would need to be done with Natural England on the exact locations of peat deposits, depths, type of peat etc. Whilst not a major land type in Cheshire West and Chester, peatland is a major store of carbon. Restoration of peatlands is a priority for government and part of its Nature for Climate programme that is delivering over 600m over the next four years. The Natural Capital report will provide up to date information on the extent and location of peatland across the borough.

Local Plan policies can protect RIGS and other important geological or geomorphological sites. 

The spatial strategy for new development set out in the Local Plan Update will impact on levels of development on vacant and contaminated land, depending upon the areas chosen for the majority of development (i.e. whether this is the urban areas or more rural areas). It will also impact on levels of development on agricultural land.

Planning policies can influence whether agricultural land is used for housing or agricultural diversification for example. Planning cannot have a major influence on how land is farmed and whether this is done more intensively or more organically and supports biodiversity. This will be influenced by government policy, taxation and grants and the market for agricultural products.

5.6 Key sustainability issues and opportunities

• CW&C imports all of its crushed rock requirements as there are no workable reserves within CW&C. However, some key suppliers of minerals such as the Peak District and Lake District are likely to be increasingly restricted in future due to their National Park status.
• There may be additional pressure on provision of sand and gravel from CW&C in the future as several quarries in the Greater Manchester and Merseyside area have recently closed and many of these authorities do not now have a 7-year supply of aggregates.
• It may be possible for some additional aggregate provision to come from additional marine extraction.
• Changes to government policy and taxation relating to re-use of buildings rather than demolition and on recycling of construction, demolition and excavation waste may influence levels of recycled aggregates. This will impact on the levels of primary aggregates required to be extracted to meet the 7-year supply.
• The Mineral Products Association identify in the Annual Mineral Planning Survey Report 2023 that the rolling 10-year average replenishment rate for sand and gravel reserves was 61% (and was 63% in 2021), indicating that sales continue to exceed the tonnages of new reserves. As of the end of 2020, the rolling 10-year average for sand & gravel replenishment is 63%, indicating that sales continue to outstrip the tonnage of new reserves permitted.
• Changes to levels of housebuilding, employment development and major infrastructure schemes will impact on demand for minerals.
• Existing important sites of geological and geomorphological interest should be protected and enhanced.
• Development of vacant and derelict land should be prioritised.
• Remediation of contaminated land should be promoted and encouraged.

5.7 SA framework