Plans to build a second quarry near Kenilworth will be discussed by Warwickshire County Council next week.

The local authority is set to decide on its new minerals masterplan which could include up to seven new quarries across the county.

Amongst the suggested locations is a 47 hectare site on the land at Coney Grey Farm, Ryton.

The new Warwickshire Minerals Plan is recommended for approval, having been given the green light by an inspector last month.

A council report said: "Minerals are essential in supporting the development of sustainable communities and economic growth.

"It is critical that a sufficient supply of material is maintained in order to support the provision of houses, roads, energy and the infrastructure required in Warwickshire into the future."

The minerals plan, which would run until 2032, has followed a host of public consultations and would add to the five already active sites in the county.

Near Kenilworth, WCC has given permission for Smiths Concrete to continue to use its Glebe Farm quarry in Bubbenhall until May 2024.

And whilst full planning permission would still need to be granted for the new sites, if WCC choses to adopt the plan next week it would be a major step forward for the new development in Ryton.

A 47 hectare site near Ryton has been put forward as one of seven prefered sites for quarries (Image via WCC)

The plan says of the land: "The site comprises medium to large scale mixed farming with hedged field boundaries in the main and a block of woodland to the west.

"The site has the potential to release 0.3 to 0.4 million tonnes of sand and gravel during the plan period.

"Material is likely to be processed off site or on site using small mobile processing plant. It would provide a modest increase in production capacity in the County at an estimated rate of 100,000 tonnes per annum.

"At the planning application stage there will be a need to demonstrate that any processing plant erected will not impact on the openness of the green belt, nor conflict with the purposes of including land within it."

Seven quarry sites have been put forward for the new Warwickshire Minerals Plan (Image via WCC)

Also recommended in the new plan is a controversial site 350 metres from the village of Barford.

Local residents have been continually calling for the county to rethink the 91.5 hectare site, and the campaign as been backed by MP for Warwick and Leamington Matt Western.

Mr Western presented a bill to parliament in December calling for a ban on building quarries near settlements.

During his speech the Labour MP said: "Across the land a great number of communities face the prospect of communities being permitted that will not just blight their areas, but bring significant risk to human health whilst at the same time, in certain cases, being surplas to requirement."

He added that the Barford scheme "demonstrates this point" and had "pushed him to try and change the law".

The new Warwickshire Minerals Plan will be voted on at full WCC council on Tuesday, July 19.