Consent of new aggregates reserves in the UK is failing to keep pace with the rate of consumption, despite the current low level of demand in the region.
The report claims that, apart from in 2006, demand has outstripped consent of new reserves for the last 15 years.
There are also considerable regional variations in the balance of new consents compared to consumption. Very few consents for additional reserves were granted in the Midlands, East Anglia, Northern England and Wales. Together, these regions replenished just three months’ production. The situation was better in Yorkshire and the South East, where the level of new permissions granted was similar to production. Only in Scotland and the South West did the level of new reserves exceed production.
