Strategic Overview - Minerals, Waste Disposal and Pollution Control
Unitary Development Plan
Chapter 2 : Strategic Overview
Minerals, Waste Disposal and Pollution Control
Key
| 2.53 | There has been a long history of mineral working in the Tameside area, for coal, sand, brick clay and hard rock, which has left its mark on the landscape or necessitated a number of reclamation schemes in various parts of the Borough. However, although some deposits of these minerals still remain in this area, all except hard rock ceased to be worked some years ago. |
| 2.54 | Government advice is that minerals are important national resources which make an essential contribution to the nation's prosperity, but that a balance has to be struck between their extraction and the protection of the environment. Demand for construction minerals, which is linked to levels of economic activity, is continuing to grow, but the long term trend has been to concentrate production in a smaller number of more intensively worked sites. Regional Aggregates Working Parties have been set up and have produced guidelines for meeting demand for aggregates for some years ahead, which envisage a constant proportion of the region's requirements being produced internally. |
| 2.55 | Tameside makes a significant contribution to aggregate production in the Greater Manchester area through a single, large, active quarry at Buckton Vale in Mossley. There, gritstone is excavated and crushed, in accordance with a planning permission granted in 1985 which released a further 10 million tonnes over 20 years. Harrop Edge Quarry at Mottram was reopened for a period in the mid 1980's but has been inactive again since 1987. In addition, planning permission was granted in 1970 for the working of clay on land south of Windmill Lane, between the M66 motorway and the Guide Bridge to Stockport railway, although no extraction has yet taken place. |
| 2.56 | The Greater Manchester Minerals Local Plan, approved by the Secretary of State for the Environment as recently as 1989, currently provides a detailed framework for the control of mineral development in the whole of the former county area. Although it will be superseded on adoption of the U.D.P., many of the policies on the environmental aspects of mineral working which this Plan contains remain relevant to Tameside and could be incorporated almost unchanged into the U.D.P. |
| 2.57 | Waste disposal is becoming an increasingly contentious issue as the availability of small local tips has declined, leading to larger scale operations and more transfer loading. Whilst there is considerable scope for reducing the bulk of household waste through greater acceptance of recycling and other measures, the disposal of commercial and inert waste, for which long haulage distances can be uneconomic, is more problematical especially in a predominantly urban area. There has been little Government guidance on planning for waste disposal but their policy has been to separate disposal operations from regulatory functions and to tighten up on notification and control of environmental hazards. |
| 2.58 | In the past, waste has been disposed of at a large number of sites in the separate towns which make up Tameside. Whilst the harm done to the landscape by these former tips has largely now been eradicated by various reclamation schemes, they can still cause problems due to landfill gas emission, as at Ruby Street in Denton. All domestic refuse is currently taken out of the Borough for pulverisation or compaction prior to ultimate landfill disposal elsewhere. However, it is expected that in the future other Counties or Districts may be increasingly reluctant to have refuse brought into their areas. |
| 2.59 | Commercial waste has been deposited in the last few years at the former Three Corner Nook Quarry in Ashton, now in its final stages of operation, and inert waste has been used to reclaim a number of small sites. There is an increasing trend towards transfer loading of commercial waste, with several such sites already in operation in the Borough, and demand for both this and for landfill looks set to continue. |
| 2.60 | One of the results of the long term changes in Tameside's traditional industrial structure has been the presence of a number of derelict and often contaminated sites, representing both an eyesore and a waste of land resources both of which can hinder regeneration. Much positive impact on the appearance of the area and on the availability of land for development has been achieved through derelict land reclamation, but some contaminated or despoiled industrial sites still remain to be dealt with. |
| 2.61 | Despite improvement over the last 20 years the rivers flowing through the Borough still suffer from some pollution, and fly tipping can be a problem despite the operation of two Civic Amenity disposal sites. Other concerns about pollution include both alleviating the effects of existing activities and being vigilant about potential emissions from new developments. |
Page last updated: 2 November 2007