THE preliminary stages of new plans for extracting the county's minerals are now underway, with Hertfordshire County Council drawing up documents for potential new sites for extraction.

The Minerals Local Plan, a compulsory document which must be drawn up in order to identify key sites which could be used for extraction, recently received the go-ahead from the executive committee.

The plans must be reviewed every five years in order to meet demand for minerals, while not exhausting supplies in the county and remaining sensitive to local residents.

The Government has set out that 2.4 million tonnes of minerals must be found in Hertfordshire, and so far 21 sites have been put forward as potential extraction sites.

This list will be refined down to a smaller number of sites once members of the public contribute their ideas about which sites should be used.

The Key Issues document, which outlines these sites, will be available for members of the public to consider and respond to.

The document will be available from the county council's environment department, the district council offices, libraries in the area, and from , and members of the public will need to voice their opinions of the plans by 4 January, 2002.

Environment executive member, Iris Tarry, said: "Gravel extraction is a contentious issue, and the whole purpose of this consultation is to ensure that everybody who may be affected by the plan can help us to make the best informed decisions."

Once the public consultation stage is complete, the county council can draw up a final draft of the plan, scheduled for next spring.

October 31, 2001 9:58

Wendy Fielder