Wednesday 9 October 2024

Aggregate Industries’ Straitgate update for September

Aggregate Industries has this week provided the following update in relation to implementing its permission to quarry Straitgate Farm: 
There is nothing new to report this month but we continue to work on the preparation of the remaining schemes required by condition.
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Wednesday 25 September 2024

‘Dust from lorries has damaged my eyesight’

Aggregate Industries has a history of failing to control dust – as we have previously posted.  

Last year, we posted about the company’s site in Chelmsford and the complaints about dust. At the time Aggregate Industries said: 
We have taken a number of proactive measures to help alleviate the problem. 
Seemingly those measures have not solved the problem:

An employee who has quit his job has blamed health problems caused by an ongoing issue of lorries kicking up dust and debris. 

Dave Brown, who was described as "part of the furniture" at New Again Auto Reconditioning in Chelmsford, said his eyesight was "gradually going". 

Gary Wray, owner of the car repair firm in New Street, uploaded a YouTube video to his website, Dusty Chelmsford, pinning the blame on Aggregate Industries, whose lorries are "regularly overloaded with no covers". 

The construction supplies company, which pledged to address the problem last year, said: "[We have] invested in extensive improvements at our Chelmsford site." 

It added that Chelmsford City Council’s environmental health team had visited the site and welcomed the changes that had been made. But it acknowledged there was "still room for improvement". 

Dave Brown said he had been suffering eye irritation caused by the dust.
The dust from the Aggregate Industries depot is so thick, it can be seen on this satellite image, discolouring trees and bushes, south and west of the depot. The smudge across the map extends to reach two schools in the area, and that is just the pollution that can be seen from space! 
and asks "Are you a whistleblower?" 
If you have inside information about Aggregate Industries, Holcim Group, or any other information as to why government agencies seem so reluctant to do their jobs, you can contact us in complete confidence.

 

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Friday 20 September 2024

Venn Ottery bridleway – a community benefit left by AI – still closed


 

When Aggregate Industries was previously working in the East Devon area, it was tasked with providing a bridleway alongside its quarry at Venn Ottery. It was "a condition of the S106 agreement associated with the Blackhill Plant processing permission". The bridleway was supposed to be a benefit left to the community for all the years of aggravation the company had foisted upon them. It was supposed to last for more than just a few years. 

Earlier this year, in – Run-off problems at Venn Ottery. Would AI’s legacy at Straitgate be the same? –  we posted not only about how the area had suffered surface water run-off problems from the quarry, but also about how this bridleway had been washed away. 


In January, bridleway 37 on Venn Ottery Hill had a collapse in the central section of the route caused by water run-off from the old quarry site. The resulting huge void has necessitated closure as the route is now not in a safe condition. The closure order means that the bridleway cannot be used until at least the end of August. 
There is – at the time of writing – no sign of this now dangerous route being repaired. In fact, the void is so deep it is unclear how the current route could be repaired. 

Aggregate Industries once claimed in answer to critics of the Venn Ottery plan, and as we have often had cause to repeat: 
We shall be putting back a lot more than we're taking away. 
Clearly, it was just another vacuous claim.

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Aggregate Industries’ parent: the cement company that paid millions to ISIS

As far back as 2016, we have been writing about how Aggregate Industries' parent company Holcim – previously known as LafargeHolcim, a conglomerate formed by the merger of Swiss-based Holcim and French-based Lafarge – was accused of financing terrorism in Syria. 

The case is now tied up in the French courts, as we posted earlier this year. 

This week, The Guardian published this story:
 
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Mineral supply ‘approaching cliff edge’ – warns MPA, yet again

The Mineral Products Association – the trade body representing Aggregate Industries and friends – claims there are diminishing reserves of UK-sourced minerals, and has yet again urged the Government to take action. The MPA claims: 
... for more than a decade the rate of consumption – mainly for construction – has not been matched by the rate of approval for new planning consents for quarrying, due to a ‘broken’ mineral planning system that often allows local interests to be prioritised above national need. 

Between 2014 and 2023, for every 100 tonnes of sand and gravel used in Great Britain, an average of 61 tonnes of new permissions have been granted. 
The MPA asserts "this situation is not sustainable in the medium term". Mark Russell, Executive Director at MPA, declared:  
Our survey shows the availability of essential minerals is fast approaching a cliff-edge.
 

But it’s not the first time the MPA has been shouting about replenishment rates of sand and gravel.

In 2018, the MPA warned:
A steady and adequate supply of aggregates needs to be planned, monitored and managed, all of which require support and strong direction from central Government...  Demand for land-won sand and gravel continues to outstrip the amount of new reserves being permitted, with the 10-year average replenishment rate decreasing to 53%.  
In 2013, the MPA warned: 
The Mineral Products Association is calling on Government to increase its efforts to overcome inertia in the planning system, in order to ensure a steady and adequate supply of aggregates which are essential to the construction industry and the economy. Permitted reserves of sand and gravel are in serious decline and planning authorities are putting too much effort into reducing potential future supply rather than getting on with the business of adopting robust mineral plans. Average replenishment rates of aggregate reserves (i.e. the rates at which production is being replaced with new permissions) are continuing to decline. Only 43% of sand and gravel reserves have been replenished in the last 10 years to 2012...
In 2010, the MPA warned:
Long term trends in replenishment rates show that long term average sand and gravel replenishment rates have not been at parity for at least 10 years… In 2010 crushed rock long term replenishment stood at 67% over 10 years, and for sand and gravel, 49%. 
And yet, miraculously, there are no shortages of sand and gravel in the UK.

In actual fact – by the MPA’s own figures – rather than "fast approaching a cliff-edge", the replenishment rate at 61% has actually been improving, and at less than 100% may reflect no more than the long-term decline of sand and gravel sales – sales in Devon being a prime example.
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Aggregate Industries’ parent draws climate criticism


The Swiss-based company has failed to cut direct emissions from its plants or spend enough to reduce materials or energy waste, said Industrious Labs, a U.S.-based environmental nonprofit. 

Industrious Labs, which is part of a campaign called Concrete Change to reduce the sector's environmental impact, gave Holcim a grade of "D" - the second-lowest rating - for its sustainability performance. 

It said the spinoff, due to take place in the first half of 2025, hides mounting costs and a failure to adapt to growing demand for cleaner cement. 

"Markets are brutal and don't reward incumbents which are slow to respond to customer demand," Nachy Kanfer, a partner at Industrious Labs, told Reuters. "We see multiple net zero cement projects under way, and Holcim is being left behind."

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‘We’re still in the 1970s with cement’

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Council set to defend Hatfield quarry refusal despite costs

Following our post on the subject last year, this news from July: 
Hertfordshire County Council has signalled its intent to defend its refusal to grant permission for a quarry on the site of the former Hatfield Aerodrome – despite a previous appeal costing it almost £150,000. 

Brett Aggregates lodged an appeal against the council’s refusal to grant planning permission for its latest application earlier this month. 

A 10-day Planning Inquiry has already been scheduled for November – where a Planning Inspector will review the decision issued by the council, in January. 

And that comes just three years after the county council defended its refusal of “substantially similar” plans for the same site at a previous inquiry.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has now learned that costs incurred by the county council during that last inquiry, in November 2021, amounted to £147,421.84...
EDIT 24.9.24 Hertfordshire County Council withdraws reasons for refusal. Councillor Rose Grewal, Executive Member Planning provided the following statement: 
As Welwyn Hatfield’s Executive Member for Planning, I, along with the Joint Administration, am deeply disappointed by Hertfordshire County Council’s (HCC) decision to withdraw the reasons for refusal ahead of the upcoming planning inquiry into the proposed mineral quarry at the former Hatfield Aerodrome, citing prohibitive costs and a low chance of success defending the appeal.   

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has continued to strongly oppose the proposal, raising concerns about the detrimental impact on public amenity, inappropriate use of the greenbelt, increased risk of land contamination and traffic impacts.     

Since refusing planning permission for the quarry in October last year, HCC have failed to build a robust case in defence of its decision. By choosing to withdraw the reasons for refusal, HCC has effectively chosen not to defend its original decision, meaning the views of the community and wider public interest will not be represented at the inquiry.   

Ellenbrook Country Park is a cherished green open space for our community and an important site for nature conservation. HCC’s decision is a significant blow to those who have fought tirelessly for many years to protect the site.   

We now call upon the developer, ARC, to honour the original Section 106 agreement made in 2001, when permission was first granted for the Hatfield Aerodrome development. By completing the outstanding establishment works and supporting the Ellenbrook Trust we can seek to ensure that the remainder of the Country Park is preserved for public benefit.

 


Groups still have some hope that the county council’s refusal of the application could be upheld by the Planning Inquiry, scheduled to begin on November 19. 

However, they do not expect to fight against the proposals at the inquiry themselves, amid fears that they could end up liable for costs that could reach £1m... 

In refusing the application earlier this year the council’s development control committee pointed to eight reasons. 

These reasons included the impact on the Green Belt and on residential amenity, as well as well as biodiversity, public access, the highway and groundwater. 

But on Tuesday committee chair Cllr Terry Hone pointed to legal and planning advice that had suggested that these reasons would not ‘stand up’ at a planning inquiry as well as the risk of potential costs that the council could face at the inquiry. 

Although estimates of these costs were not made public at the meeting, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that they are between £500k and £1m.
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Wednesday 4 September 2024

Aggregate Industries’ Straitgate update for August

Aggregate Industries has this week provided the following update in relation to implementing its permission to quarry Straitgate Farm: 
Please find attached copies of the written scheme of [archaeological] investigation and the water monitoring scheme which have been submitted to Devon today for approval. 

Regarding the infiltration tests I am afraid I am still waiting for internal approval on this but I will let you know once we have a date confirmed.
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Friday 2 August 2024

Almost 10 years on, AI is still struggling to produce a workable site access plan

A site meeting was held this week to discuss what impact the proposed modifications to Birdcage Lane – required to facilitate access to the permitted quarry at Straitgate Farm for up to 200 HGV movements a day – would have on Trees F and G: the two majestic TPO-protected oak trees that sit beside the lane and either side of the proposed site entrance. 



Following the submission of plans last month by Aggregate Industries for the rural single carriageway lane, Devon County Council called for a site meeting, and this week five officers from the Council, including three from highways, and one from trees, together with two tree officers from East Devon District Council, met with four personnel and consultants from Aggregate Industries, and one tree consultant representing Straitgate Action Group; 12 attendees in all. 

What has now become clear, following these new plans and the site meeting, is that almost 10 years on from submitting the first application to quarry the farm in 2015, Aggregate Industries has still not worked out how to create an acceptable entrance into the site. 

Should we be surprised? Are the company and its chosen consultants incompetent? Or does this demonstrate – and we did warn – why Aggregate Industries should never have chosen Birdcage Lane for a site entrance? Either way, it doesn’t reflect well on the company. 

Three mature oak trees abut the proposed works: Trees F and G, and third-party oak Tree H. For these trees to remain unharmed by the works – as conditioned by the Planning Inspectors – the supply of air and water to their roots must be remain unhindered. It’s not rocket science. 

As things stand, the new road designs are likely to have a high impact on all three trees. 

At the Public Inquiry in 2022, the tree consultant acting on behalf of Devon County Council wrote: 
3.3 The initial scheme was a no-dig construction method. However, this construction was considered unacceptable by DCC Highways Authority (response dated 02 Nov 2021) [CD6.33A] commenting that ‘because of the size and weight of the haulage vehicles that will use the junction and Birdcage Lane, “No Dig” solutions for new road construction are not an option for consideration’. Subsequently a metalled road became part of the amended access arrangements to effectively cope with on-going movement of heavy machinery and HGVs. 

3.4 The following arboricultural report (Chapter 3 – Landscape Soils and Arboricultural Report) [CD4.26A] acknowledges that the "no dig" construction will potentially interfere with the root protection areas of Trees F and G and moreover ‘it is likely they will be damaged by the development and need to be felled’. The report considers that trees could survive the works, if the actual roots are deeper than the excavations / disturbance required. The mitigation provided is a watching brief by an Arboriculturist at the time of the works being carried out. This is outlined in ‘Detail Area, R22/L/3-3-005’ [CD4.63A] ‘to monitor the condition of trees F and G, and only remove them if necessary’. The proposal is to remove tree H...
 The Council’s consultant concluded: 
6.2 The Appellant’s proposal does not adequately consider the significant impact upon the Notable trees F and G impacted as a result of works to the access. These trees are mature and of potential veteran status and should be re-categorised as A (high value) with the sub-category 3 (wildlife and/or cultural attributes). The buffers proposed by the Appellant through the RPAs are inadequate, particularly in the light of amendment of means of construction of the access road from ‘no dig’ to metalled, while the Appellant’s proposed mitigation of a ‘watching brief’ is insufficient to secure their protection and would not contribute or link to the wider ecological network or green infrastructure requirements.
In respect of Tree H, Devon County Council wrote to Aggregate Industries in 2017 and said: 
Clearly, your proposal to carry out works in the highway is, as admitted in your own application documentation, likely to have a detrimental impact on the oak tree within the hedgerow known as "Tree H."…  

The issue, however, is whether Devon County Council as Highway Authority, in entering into a s.278 agreement with Aggregate Industries for works within the highway would knowingly be sanctioning works that would damage the property of a third party.  It is clear that the size of vehicles involved in the application render a 'no dig' solution inappropriate for the depth of road construction that would be required. It is also clear that the Section 278 works for widening and construction of the carriageway are likely to result in damage to the tree and its potential demise. The tree in question is in the ownership of a third party and the highway authority is aware that he is opposed to any damage to the tree. He considers it to be in relatively good health, a view that is shared by the district council’s tree officer. In these circumstances the highway authority would not be in a position to enter in to a S278 agreement unless this matter is resolved. I would strongly suggest that you contact the owner of the hedgerow and tree and try to reach agreement before you proceed further with this application or come back to us with a proposal that might be acceptable which does not impact on third party assets or possessions. 
And again regarding the 'no dig' solution: 
Because of the size and weight of the haulage vehicles that will use the junction and Birdcage Lane, "No Dig" solutions for new road construction are not an option for consideration.
What we now find – inappropriate or not for the size of vehicles involved, and no doubt because of the protection that must by law be afforded to the TPO'd trees – is that the plans submitted by Aggregate Industries are indeed predominantly for "No Dig". 

The works proposed would raise the carriageway by some 750mm – much more than the permitted plans. The drawings claim to show a "permeable carriageway construction", but the new two-way carriageway surface would be capped with 300mm of bituminous material – impervious to both air and water. The 450mm sub-base of compacted aggregate would be held within a matrix structure called CellWeb TRP; the manufacturers say "The benefits of the CellWeb TRP® system can only be maintained if a suitably porous final surface is selected" and that "All surfaces in Root Protection Areas must be porous."
Devon County Council will now have to decide whether a no-dig solution is appropriate for a public highway with up to 200 HGVs a day; apparently, the Council has never accepted such a proposal before. 

Devon County Council might of course be persuaded by the temporary nature of the permission, as per Condition 4, which states:
the winning and working of sand and gravel and all operations and uses of land authorised by this permission (save for any restoration and aftercare pursuant to conditions 51 and 53) shall cease not later than 10 years from the date of the implementation of this permission. 
However, what quarry ever finished in the time allocated? Mineral working at Venn Ottery – down the road from Straitgate – was permitted in 1965, and finished 51 years later. Even before any extraction at Straitgate has begun, we’ve been told the 10 years is likely to be extended. Aggregate Industries itself has already said that the site is likely to be mothballed. 

Apart from all that, the plans have thrown up a number of other problems. 

The first is that the lane is not wide enough to accommodate Aggregate Industries' plans! Yes, you read that correctly. 

We had warned Devon County Council back in 2017 that the verge to allow two-way carriageway construction was not as wide as Aggregate Industries had assumed. The company and its consultants can’t even be trusted with a tape measure. 

Birdcage Lane has a grass verge on both sides of the carriageway. 


Verges, especially on rural lanes, are not only there for wildlife and to protect the hedgebanks, they are also important for livestock and horses. S71 of the Highways Act 1980 says: 
(1) It is the duty of a highway authority to provide in or by the side of a highway maintainable at the public expense by them which consists of or comprises a made-up carriageway adequate grass or other margins as part of the highway in any case where they consider the provision of margins necessary or desirable for the safety or accommodation of ridden horses and driven livestock; and a highway authority may light a margin provided by them under this section.
Permission was granted for a minimal 1.0m grass verge to be maintained, as well as the 1.2m gravel path on the other side for pedestrians:
   

At the meeting this week, there was talk of amending the permission to allow Aggregate Industries' new plans to fit in – so that there would be no grass verge left at all.

What’s more, Aggregate Industries has only now, at this very late stage, realised that the drainage ditch along the lane must be moved. Where has the company proposed to put it? Right through mature trees and Devon hedgebanks on the perimeter of the site, and on through the centre of trees planted several years ago for the purposes of screening, alternative compensatory bat and dormouse habitat, and biodiversity offsetting. Approximately 450 square metres of trees would be lost. 

It would be the second time Aggregate Industries has had to cut down newly-planted trees – trees that were supposed to be 'compensation' for the 1.5km of ancient hedgerows due to be ripped out. 

All these trees destined for the chop are outside of the red line planning boundary. Conditions 39 and 41 of the planning permission say: 
39. All existing trees, shrubs and hedgerows within the site and on its boundaries shall be retained and protected from damage during the process of extraction and subsequent restoration unless they are identified to be removed as part of the current phase or a succeeding phase of mineral working or restoration as set out in the approved plans. 

41. Outside the designated mineral working areas, trees shall not be felled, lopped or topped or have their roots damaged and hedgerows shall not be removed, thinned or cut back without the prior written consent of the Mineral Planning Authority…. All tree and shrub planting and other landscape works implemented pursuant to this permission shall be maintained and shall be protected from damage for the duration of the extraction and restoration works, and for ten years from the completion of restoration in any part of the site. 
There are a multitude of other issues – including this major blooper: 

With the new road surface raised by some 750mm above current levels, the pedestrian footpath next to this carriageway – a condition of the permission intended for school children and other lane users – would sit even higher, at about 900mm. 

The construction of the footway would need to be against the hedgebank – measured at about 1m, and less in places – on the eastern side of the lane, and would block this field gateway:
 
Who knows if the hedgebank is strong enough to support all this material and the weight of laden HGV traffic? Both belong to a third party, whose permission has not been sought, and who has been a longstanding objector to the proposal. 

Aggregate Industries has once again demonstrated just how good it is at not thinking things through. 

Following the meeting this week, the company has been tasked with a long list of further work – some of which you might have thought should have been done before the application was determined, not afterwards – including supplying more accurate topographical surveys showing the exact position of tree trunks, hedgebanks, levels etc, supplying an accurate tree survey showing the results of tree root investigations and the actual root spread of all the mature trees to be retained, providing further information on the new drainage ditch arrangements, assessing the impact of the work on the third party hedgebank and field entrance, assessing the extent and impact of tree removal on the splay to Exeter Road, etc. 

Aggregate Industries is already halfway through the three years it has to implement the permission, granted 5 January 2023. The modifications on Birdcage Lane are but one of the obstacles the company must overcome.
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Aggregate Industries’ Straitgate update for July

Aggregate Industries has today provided the following update in relation to implementing its permission to quarry Straitgate Farm: 
Update this month is that, as you are aware, we have met with Devon highways regarding the highway improvements and are awaiting their view on a no dig highway construction. 

I am planning to submit next week the written scheme of investigation and the water monitoring scheme. As previously I will send you a copy of what we submit to Devon. 

Finally I am hoping to get sign off for the infiltration tests next week and if so these should take place in the second half of August and I will confirm the date when I know.
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Sales of sand & gravel down 10% in second quarter, report MPA

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Thursday 18 July 2024

All change again at the top of Aggregate Industries

No one can accuse Aggregate Industries of letting the grass grow under its executives’ feet. 

This week, the company appointed a new boss, Lee Sleight – previously Managing Director of the Aggregates division, and, coincidentally, first mentioned here only a few days ago. 

Mr Sleight is clearly happy to be the next in line to be called upon: 
It is a very proud moment for me to be chosen to lead this fantastic business.
Mr Sleight will be Aggregate Industries’ sixth CEO during the time in which the company has been trying to get its hands on the sand and gravel at Straitgate. 

Whether that says more about the turnover of bosses in this fantastic business, or just how many years the company has spent messing about trying to secure the relatively small amount of mineral on offer at Straitgate, readers can decide. 

Kaziwe Kaulule will replace Mr Sleight as MD of the Aggregates division.
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Saturday 13 July 2024

‘Time to get Britain building responsibly’, says Aggregate Industries

A change of government has prompted all manner of press releases from the building industry this week. 

Both the Mineral Products Association, the trade body representing Aggregate Industries et al., and Aggregate Industries itself have responded to plans set out by the new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to overhaul the planning system and boost housebuilding. 

MPA Director of Public Affairs, Robert McIlveen, said: 
The Chancellor has wasted no time to get going, and we warmly welcome her decisions on housing and onshore wind, as well as hiring more planners. We look forward to such decisive action in other areas… 

We will be writing to key ministers in the coming days, stressing that planning reform for housing is just the first step, and that a similar approach of unblocking the planning system needs to be taken for mineral extraction, processing and freight. This is fundamental to growth, given the sector represents the largest material flow in the UK economy – over 1 million tonnes of raw materials and products every day. Mineral products make up a major part of the supply chain for housing and infrastructure, but our members face prohibitive constraints in the current planning and permitting system.
Lee Sleight, who this year became Aggregate Industries' latest Managing Director of Aggregate, said: 
As a leading sustainable building materials supplier within the UK, we are fully on board with this initiative and ready to support key areas such as house building, infrastructure and onshore wind. 

So far in 2024, the UK market has seen a concerning slowdown in both infrastructure projects and house building, with 24% less construction starts in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the previous year, and construction output in the housing sector 19% below 2019 levels in February this year. 

etc etc 

Without a doubt, the urgent steps which the Chancellor has laid out to kick-start economic growth are necessary and achievable, and we are poised ready for the challenge. However, taking house building as an example, the 1.5 million homes projected over the next five years will require vast amounts of materials.

A conservative estimate of just the concrete required for these homes could be 37.5 million cubic metres. For perspective, this equates to more than nine times the capacity of Wembley Stadium and underscores the importance of recycled materials. 

This is why it’s crucial we create a new blueprint for the Great British built environment. Aggregate Industries have ambitious plans to help achieve net zero and are adopting a circular economy approach across everything they do. 

The construction industry must responsibly embrace the Chancellor’s national mission for growth but can only achieve this by building in a circular and wholly sustainable way. This goes far beyond just minimizing waste. Effectively, we need to build new cities from the ‘urban quarry’ of our old stock, thereby conserving the precious resources of our island nation.
And, of course, no one would disagree with Mr Sleight’s apparent passion for the use of recycled materials and conserving the precious resources of our island nation – but this is the MD of the division of Aggregate Industries that has been fighting tooth and nail over the last 15 years to dig the life out of a relatively insignificant greenfield site in East Devon for precious unsustainable primary un-recycled materials, and to process them 23 miles away – a wholly unsustainable way. 

Aggregate Industries: Say one thing and do another.
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Quarry companies – if at first they don’t succeed

For the second time, Brett Aggregates has appealed the decision by Hertfordshire County Council to refuse plans for an eight million tonne sand and gravel quarry on the site of the former Hatfield Aerodrome. A planning inquiry is due to start on 19 November and is scheduled to last for 10 days. 

The Planning Inspectorate refused the company’s previous application to quarry the site in 2022 – following a nine-day public inquiry – citing harm to the Green Belt, character, appearance and amenity of the area, as we have previously posted. 

Herts County Council has described the latest application as being "substantially similar" to the first.

What is it about the answer NO that quarry companies don't understand?

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Cumbria coal mine unlawfully approved, government says

The Government has admitted that a proposed coal mine in Cumbria – subject of these posts – was approved unlawfully, as the carbon emissions of coal from the mine should have been taken into account in the planning decision, the Guardian reported this week.

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Sunday 7 July 2024

Anger as Aggregate Industries cuts hauliers’ rates

According to Motor Transport magazine, Aggregate Industries has blamed "extremely challenging" trading conditions for its decision to cut rates for hauliers: 
Hauliers working for Aggregate Industries (AI) have reacted with fury at a move by the company to chop its rates by 1.77% after blaming “extremely challenging” trading conditions. 
In a letter to its franchised hauliers, AI said they needed to accept “the reality of a weakening construction market” and so it was taking the difficult decision to cut its rates. 
It said fuel prices had decreased and therefore tipper haulage rates on standard work would be reduced by 0.52%. 
But AI also said it was cutting the rate by an additional 1.25% to reflect the current trading environment. 
“We will aggressively target utilisation improvements to help reduce the impact of the rate changes,” the letter said. 
“When the market dynamic shifts towards a more positive outlook, we will actively review this specific change.” 
However, hauliers have told Motor Transport that AI is doing the opposite of other companies in the sector: “I think they’re just greedy,” said one, who asked to remain anonymous. 
“Work has got quieter, but it only seems to be for them. Breedon have put their rates up by 3.91%. 
“People can’t run trucks with what they are asking us to do; like the spec on all our wagons. 
“You need one truck and two drivers and you need to work them day and night and that’s it, or it will never pay.” 
Another haulier, Roger Foster, said he’d pulled his trucks off AI work in the west of England when he received the letter: “I think it stinks,” he said. “There is work! I’ve heard they’ve got lorries coming from Manchester covering the work because we are not doing it. 
“No-one else is cutting the rate. I think there’s plenty of work out there.” 
An AI spokesman said: “We recently communicated to our franchised hauliers who serve our aggregates and asphalt business in respect of our standard rates. 
“We regularly review these rates against fluctuating fuel costs and adjust them accordingly. 
“As average fuel prices have dropped this quarter we will be adjusting all standard tipper haulage rates for all vehicle types on all standard work by -0.52% from 1 July 2024.” 
The spokesman added: “There are also very challenging market conditions across the industry currently and, as a business, we must constantly look at how we can remain competitive and drive efficiencies. 
“As part of this drive we have made the difficult decision to reduce standard rates by a further 1.25%.” 
Of course, a reduction in rates won’t help Aggregate Industries find an operator prepared to haul any Straitgate winnings to Hillhead for processing – a 46-mile round trip for every as-dug load that must only be fuelled with the more expensive HVO. However, the company has already admitted that economic conditions are not currently conducive to the viability of mineral working at Straitgate, and that once the permission is implemented the site could be mothballed.
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Tuesday 2 July 2024

Aggregate Industries’ Straitgate update for June

Aggregate Industries provided the following update yesterday in relation to implementing its permission to quarry Straitgate Farm: 
No change this month as no new schemes have been submitted.
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Monday 24 June 2024

AI’s ponding problem at Hillhead – enough water to fill 15 Olympic pools!


Any quarry Aggregate Industries ends up digging at Straitgate Farm must not introduce water bodies, because of aircraft safeguarding considerations at Exeter Airport: 
But Aggregate industries is not very good at controlling surface water. 

If it were, it would not be suffering a "surface water ponding issue" at its Hillhead Quarry near Uffculme. We’ve already posted about this – here, here, here and here. 

Aggregate Industries has recently lodged a planning application with Devon County Council for Hillhead Quarry near Uffculme – DCC/4399/2024:
Variation of conditions 2, 4, 6, 7, 12, 19, 22 and 25 of ROMP permission DCC/3655/2014... to vary the phasing; landform; drainage; and restoration of the site.
The Planning Statement for the application reads:  
3.4.1 Houndaller Extension Area is currently facing surface water ponding issues in Phase 6 which is preventing completion of restoration of this section of the quarry. It is considered that a similar situation will occur once extraction operations cease in Phase 7. During 2023 and to date in 2024, in excess of 1m dept [sic] of water has collected over much of the Phase 6 area. The consented final restoration landform does not allow for effective drainage. Therefore, Aggregate Industries are proposing a long-term solution for surface water ponding issues on site.  
Just how wrong has Aggregate industries got things at Hillhead? 

There may be in excess of 1m depth of water, but how far does that water extend? Fortunately, Google Earth has recently provided new imagery for the area – and the answer is 9.27 acres or 3.75 ha, giving a volume of water in excess of 37,500 cubic metres, or enough to fill 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools. 

Where is all this water to go, now and in the future? According to the Hydrological & Hydrogeological Impact Assessment for the above application: 
5.8.8.1 ... ingress waters (rainfall runoff and groundwater seepage) will be captured by the perimeter drainage ditch and directed into Houndaller Plantation Pond, which will recharge the groundwater system in the BSP Aquifer. 
5.8.8.2 An infiltration rate of 50 m/d has been used in the calculations, which is the worst-case value for hydraulic conductivity derived from falling head tests (as used for calculating the worst-case ingress rates in the extraction area). 
5.8.8.3 The design storm would raise the water level (injection head) in the pond by 0.5 m.
5.8.8.4 The mean surface area (through which the outflow occurs in the recharge / soakaway feature) is taken to be the sides of the pond when accommodating 0.5 m change in water level. 
5.8.8.5 The unlined flanks of the pond have a total length of 400 m and have an effective depth of 0.5 m; therefore, the total surface area for infiltration would be 200 m2. 
5.8.8.6 Based on Darcy’s Law, applying an injection head of 0.5 m and an infiltration rate of 50 m/d, and with the mean surface area for infiltration set at 200 m2, the soakaway rate (recharging the BSP Aquifer) equates to 5,000 m3/d. 
5.8.8.7 This is equivalent to circa 150% of the storm ingress ASV indicated at section 5.8.7.14. Therefore, it is concluded that Houndaller Plantation Pond has sufficient soakaway capacity for the design storm. 
However, this calculation doesn’t look right: a soakaway rate of 5000 cubic metres of water per day through an infiltration area of just 200 square metres seems impossibly large.

What do we find? Firstly, the author of the report has not assumed "the worst-case value for hydraulic conductivity" they have in fact assumed the best: 
3.5.9.1 The hydraulic conductivity of the BSP has been determined from falling head tests undertaken in the area; and typically varies between 5.8x10-4 and 7.3x10-6 m/s, equivalent to 0.6-50 m/d. 
Secondly, the author has omitted the length of the flow path (l) from their calculations. Darcy’s Law relates the flow of groundwater through the saturated aquifer (Q) to the cross section of the aquifer (A) and the hydraulic gradient (h/l) and is written as Q = -kAh/l, where k is the hydraulic conductivity. 

Using the worst case of 0.6m/d for hydraulic conductivity (k), with 200m2 (A), 0.5m (h) and, for example, a 1000m flow path (l), the soakaway rate would fall from the incredible 5,000 m3/d to just 0.6 x 200 x 0.5/1000 = 0.06m3/day – almost 100,000 times less. 

Which means that it’s not at all clear that Houndaller Plantation Pond does have "sufficient soakaway capacity for the design storm." 

The Hydrological & Hydrogeological Impact Assessment for the above application was authored by the same team that will, either this month or next*, be trying to work out infiltration rates at Straitgate Farm. Hardly instills confidence does it?

EDIT 25.6.24 *Infiltration tests now postponed by Aggregate Industries until "end of July/early August". 
EDIT 12.7.24 Objection from Devon County Council Flood Risk Team
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Friday 21 June 2024

AI’s planning permission for the livestock crossing has expired – so what next?

Remember all the fuss about the cattle crossing – first raised here in 2017, and mentioned numerous times since?
 
The subject of the crossing was covered at the Public Inquiry, and the Planning Inspectors subsequently ruled that mineral extraction at Straitgate Farm is contingent upon the implementation of planning permission 20/2542/FUL, a permission secured by Aggregate Industries from East Devon District Council in 2021, for a "New access to the B3174 Exeter Road to provide a livestock crossing incorporating holding pens." 

Condition 19 of Aggregate Industries' permission to quarry Straitgate says: 
No soil stripping in Phase 1 of the development hereby approved shall be undertaken unless the cattle crossing permitted by East Devon District Council permission ref. 20/2542/FUL has been fully implemented and brought into operation in accordance with the conditions of that permission.
The Inspectors granting permission for the quarry spelt out the reason for this: 
109. Material to this appeal proposal is a planning permission granted by East Devon District Council (EDDC) for a new access to the B3174 Exeter Road to provide a livestock crossing incorporating holding pens. At the time of the Inquiry this permission had not been implemented. However, no cogent evidence was presented to suggest that it would not be implemented. From the details of this permission submitted to the Inquiry it is clear that this livestock crossing arrangement will enable a more direct, efficient and therefore safe movement of livestock when they need to cross the road which is of benefit to the livestock, farmer and other highway users. 
However, as we posted last year, Aggregate Industries mucked up. Permission 20/2542/FUL could not be implemented as it stood because some nitwit from the company had put the red-line planning boundary in the wrong location, as the District Council later confirmed: 
I have written to Aggregate Industries drawing their attention to this issue and recommending that they address this issue through a further application. 
Overlooking that inconvenient detail, the livestock crossing permission, granted on 21 June 2021, was itself subject to conditions, the first of which said : 
1. The development hereby permitted shall be begun before the expiration of three years from the date of this permission and shall be carried out as approved. (Reason - To comply with section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as amended by Section 51 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004). 
Today, three years have passed. 

A further application has not been made. The development has not been implemented. Parroting a famous sketch: The application is no more. It has ceased to be. It has expired and gone to meet its maker. It is an ex-application.
But that’s not the end of the story. In desperation, Aggregate Industries will now lower itself to more brutal tactics. To negate the need for the livestock crossing, and hopefully thereby to persuade Devon County Council to drop the Inspectors’ condition, the company’s ability to implement its permission to quarry Straitgate Farm will now be contingent upon foisting more pain and suffering on local people. The company will attempt to evict the tenant farmers and their children from their home – a home that has been in the same family more than 80 years – and to close down their successful dairy operation. 

The words heartless and bastards might spring to mind. 

What pain and suffering would befall this multinational cement bully should any eviction not be successful and implementation of the permission not be possible? Is there an urgent need for sand and gravel from Straitgate? Are the minerals in fact needed at all, given the millions of tonnes of similar material available to the company next to its processing plant at Hillhead also allocated in the Devon Minerals Plan? Answers: Insignificant, no and no. 

To prove the point, earlier this year, the company admitted that economic conditions are not currently conducive to the viability of mineral working at Straitgate, and that once the permission is implemented the site could be mothballed.
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Wednesday 12 June 2024

Tungsten West wins permit for Mineral Processing Facility, but loses CEO

This is the last of the key permits required to further progress the Project. 
However, earlier this month, it was also announced that the company’s CEO has resigned "with immediate effect". 

Tungsten West’s plans to increase sales and HGV movements of secondary aggregates were approved by Devon County Council earlier this year.

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Monday 10 June 2024

Aggregate Industries – planning application vs reality

Should a planning application from Aggregate Industries be read more like a sales pitch than a promise? More like a dream than reality?

Take Aggregate Industries' plans for restoring the orchard at Straitgate Farm back to "its former glory": 
3.8.14 Immediately to the south of Straitgate farmhouse is a dilapidated orchard. The orchard is shown on Ordnance Survey Maps dating back to the late 19th century and could be considered as an important part of the setting of the grade II listed farmhouse. 

3.8.15 The Applicant recognises the value of the orchard both to biodiversity and to the heritage asset and proposes to restore the orchard to its former glory by propagation from existing apple trees, growing them on and replanting in a grid pattern. Cuttings will ensure local providence and the restored orchard will provide an attractive feature.  
The orchard even featured in Aggregate Industries' error-laden Greenhouse Gas Assessment. As we previously posted, this greenwashing document told us that the "17,200m2 of restored orchard" would be planted "at a density of 2,250 trees/Ha" – a staggering 3,870 trees that would supposedly sequester an impossible "9.3 tCO2e" annually. Bonkers. 

Restoration of this orchard would, Aggregate Industries claimed in its application, involve the following:
2.6 A specialist local nursery will be engaged to graft new trees for the orchard. This involves taking cutting of scion wood from trees in the orchard and grafting them onto the stems of suitable rootstock grown at the nursery. This new grafted tree can be grown on in a pot for 2 – 3 years before being planted out in the orchard. This method guarantees the new tree will produce fruit of exactly the same variety as the tree from which it was pruned. Cuttings will be taken from 10 trees as agreed with the nursery. When grafted trees are ready, they will be planted in suitable gaps around the orchard and protected from stock grazing by individual timber post and rail with stock netting shelters, 1.8m high and 1m square. 
Cuttings will be taken from 10 trees, although but it’s not altogether clear how many would actually be planted. Surely a minimum of 10?

Aggregate Industries' marvellous before and after pictures imply a significant amount more:
The Planning Inspectors, approving the company’s plans to quarry the farm, wrote: 
85. The appellant also proposes restoration of the orchard at the front of Straitgate Farmhouse. Cuttings from the existing apple trees would be propagated and planted. We saw on our visit that tree cover within the orchard is sparse compared with what it would have been historically. Because the orchard is part of the historic layout of the grounds to the farmhouse, its restoration can be given some weight in favour. 
The restoration influenced the Inspectors’ planning balance. 
154. There are also significant material considerations which weigh in favour of the proposal. These include… restoration of the orchard at Straitgate Farm. 
Aggregate Industries has now submitted its Landscape and Ecological Management Plan to Devon County Council for approval in order to satisfy Condition 7 of the permission. How many trees are proposed to be planted? 3870? 100? 10? 
5.4.2 Five new trees from this grafted stock should be planted in the nursery when they are ready. Newly planted trees should be protected by a square, post and rail tree guard with stock netting to protect the tree from sheep grazing, such as the one in the photograph below. 
Five. Isn't Aggregate Industries embarrassed by this sort of thing?
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Wednesday 5 June 2024

Aggregate Industries’ Straitgate update for April & May

Aggregate Industries provided the following update this week in relation to implementing its permission to quarry Straitgate Farm:  
The May update would be that we have now submitted the first batch of schemes required by condition (of which you have copies) to Devon for formal approval.  During June I also hope to be in a position to submit our water monitoring scheme and the written scheme of [archeological] investigation.
For April, the company provided this update: 
Please find attached copies of the schemes that I have submitted to Devon [County Council] today. 
The schemes referred to by Aggregate Industries include: 
Condition 7 (Landscape and Ecological Management Plan) 
Condition 20 (Travel Plan) 
Condition 22 (HVO Use) 
Condition 26 (Airport Safeguarding) 
Condition 33 (Dust and Air Quality) 
Condition 42 (Hedgerow along A30)
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Sunday 2 June 2024

Aggregate Industries had extra 460k tonnes of sand & gravel up its sleeve all along

At the Public Inquiry in October 2022, Aggregate Industries pointed to the less-than-7-year landbank for sand and gravel in Devon, and claimed there was therefore an "urgent" need for a quarry at Straitgate Farm. As a result, in weighing up the planning balance, the Planning Inspectors concluded there were: 
154. ... significant material considerations which weigh in favour of the proposal. These include its contribution to sand and gravel supply in Devon in circumstances where there is not currently a 7-year landbank as required by the Framework. 
Ten months before, in December 2021, at the time Aggregate Industries’ application to quarry the farm was refused by Devon County Council, the landbank was actually above 7 years, according to a subsequent revision by the Council. However, by the time of the Public Inquiry, the landbank had indeed dropped to 6.4 years, based on permitted reserves of sand and gravel in the County at the end of 2021 of 3.317 million tonnes, divided by the 10-year sales average of 0.514 million tonnes per annum. 

But, surprise, surprise. It now turns out that, at the time of the appeal, and unbeknown to the Planning Inspectors, Aggregate Industries had another 460,000 tonnes of sand and gravel up its sleeve, which, once permitted, would have pushed the landbank to over 7 years. 

Aggregate Industries has recently lodged a planning application with Devon County Council for Hillhead Quarry near Uffculme – DCC/4399/2024 "Variation of conditions 2, 4, 6, 7, 12, 19, 22 and 25 of ROMP permission DCC/3655/2014... to vary the phasing; landform; drainage; and restoration of the site." 

This application is concerned with modifications to the Houndaller part of the site – a site with the same sort of material that underlies Straitgate Farm – that has suffered from ponding problems, as we have posted about here, here and here.
The Planning Statement for the application reads: 
3.4.1 Houndaller Extension Area is currently facing surface water ponding issues in Phase 6 which is preventing completion of restoration of this section of the quarry. It is considered that a similar situation will occur once extraction operations cease in Phase 7. During 2023 and to date in 2024, in excess of 1m dept [sic] of water has collected over much of the Phase 6 area. The consented final restoration landform does not allow for effective drainage. Therefore, Aggregate Industries are proposing a long-term solution for surface water ponding issues on site. 
Clearly, the concern must be that if the company hasn’t been able to adequately manage surface water at Houndaller, it doesn’t stand much chance of complying with the no water bodies condition at Straitgate: 
25. No water body shall be created within the site other than the approved weigh bridge lagoon.   
However, the company’s application for Houndaller is not just concerned with surface water management. The application’s Non-Technical Summary says: 
1.1.6 The proposed modifications to mineral operations at Houndaller include removal of two unsafe historic faces which will provide an estimated 460,000 tonnes of permitted reserves to Devon’s sand and gravel landbank. 

1.4.10 In addition, at present the approved plans under the extant consent contradict each other, with the approved restoration plan (ref. 2285/ROMP/4C) not showing the ridge along the northern boundary of phase 8, but it is in-situ on the working plans (ref. 2285/ROMP/3C & 2285/ROMP/73D) thereby creating an anomaly. Therefore, at present the approved restoration scheme cannot be delivered as currently consented. 
A spare 460k tonnes? Unsafe quarry faces? Approved plans that contradict each other? How has Aggregate Industries allowed all this to happen? 

But could it be that these perilous quarry faces were not known about at the time of the 2022 appeal? Not unless Aggregate Industries has been asleep for 20 years. The application’s Planning Statement points to The Quarries Regulations of 1999 and says: 
3.2.6 It is proposed to remove the ridge escarpment which lies adjacent to the eastern edge of Houndaller Plantation Pond which is in the northern part of Houndaller Extension Area and former Phase 1 area. 
3.2.7 The former Houndaller Phase 1 extraction area, north of the current Phase 8, had been worked pre-Quarry Regulations 1999 when long-term geotechnical stability of the final quarry faces when excavating sand and gravel material was not given the consideration which is now required for quarry legislative purposes. Whilst this area is now restored, the historical faces are currently up to 20m high and 65˚ to near-vertical therefore presenting both a stability, and health and safety issue. 
3.2.8 Hillhead Quarry is now subject to a Regulation 33 geotechnical assessment every two years. Within this assessment, there are various design criteria that the quarry must use to ensure geotechnical stability for both active and inactive faces. These design criteria’s are derived from the specific geotechnical properties of the geology onsite and from various stability analyses undertaken alongside the assessment. 
3.2.9 Based on the current design criteria for restoration slopes, the historic faces adjacent to the eastern edge of Houndaller Plantation Pond and along the northern boundary of the current approved Phase 8 extraction area have been assessed and are considered to be excessively steep and too high for long- term stability. They therefore currently present a significant geo-technical risk, and health and safety hazard. The current Regulation 33 Geotechnical Assessment for the site states that "Aggregate Industries must develop a plan to include remedial actions on these historic quarry faces". Further detail on the stability issues are presented within the Stability Assessment accompanying this planning application at Appendix 6.2.
The company would therefore have known for years that these hazardous quarry faces did not comply with the 1999 regulations, and that removing them would likely yield extra material. 

But perhaps it forgot all about them at the time of the Straitgate appeal in October 2022? This isn’t likely either. The Stability Assessment referenced in Appendix 6.2 says: 
1.3 ...It was identified in 2022 that the restoration plan needed to be updated to include improved drainage and to update the final profiles in relation to the materials available for backfilling the extraction area. At this point it was a natural way to deal with this legacy face to ensure the whole Houndaller excavation area is left in an adequate way that it supports long term stability and no hazards remain when Aggregate Industries complete this area.
So, how very clever of Aggregate Industries to keep all this material – about half the quantity available at Straitgate – up its sleeve. 

Prior to the determination of its Straitgate Farm application, Aggregate Industries had been in the habit of losing material – including at Houndaller – which had the inevitable effect of reducing the landbank and creating the impression of need for Straitgate. Miraculously, after Straitgate is determined, we now discover the company has found material again. How convenient. How cunning. 

What does this application for Hillhead mean for the County’s sand and gravel supplies: 
3.2.16 The current estimate completion date for extraction [at Houndaller] is end of 2029 with completion of restoration and landscaping by 2031, this is based on an average production rate of 350,000 tonnes per annum. 
Assuming production for the years 2024,25,26,27,28,29 this implies that some 2.1 million tonnes remain, or 1.64 million tonnes excluding the newly found 460,000 tonnes. Aggregate Industries helpfully confirmed in 2019: 
The company's reserves schedule for Houndaller was subsequently revised to 2.9 million tonnes as at 1st January 2019.
Subtracting those two figures implies that over the 5 years 2019,20,21,22,23, some 1.26 million tonnes of sand and gravel has been produced, at a rate of 250,000 tonnes per annum. 

At this rate, Houndaller would in fact last another 8 years. 

Of course, this is why Aggregate Industries – knowing all along it had extra material at Hillhead – has been in no rush to advance its plans for Penslade, despite starting groundwater monitoring in 2021. 

Penslade is owned by Aggregate Industries, and again has the same type of material that underlies Straitgate. Whilst Aggregate Industries claims there is 1.06 million tonnes of saleable aggregate at Straitgate, Penslade is a 23 million tonne sand and gravel resource, 8 million of which is allocated in the Devon Minerals Plan. It sits next to the company's processing plant, not – like Straitgate – 23 miles away. At the appeal, the Council’s Mineral Planning Authority said: 
5.1.13 The Appellant has stated at meetings of the local liaison group for Hillhead Quarry that it is preparing a planning application for their West of Penslade Cross site (to the east of Hillhead Quarry), having undertaken investigative boreholes and intending to seek pre-application advice from the Council before the end of 2022, with a view to submission of an application in 2023. It is also understood that remaining reserves at Hillhead Quarry are sufficient to maintain supply until a new quarry at Penslade has been approved and is capable of being implemented. 
However, to date, no planning application for Penslade has arrived. All Aggregate Industries would say at the appeal was: 
8.4 Aside from the appeal site, the only other allocated site is West Penslade. West Penslade is also AI controlled which [sic] and would be an extension for the Hillhead quarry (planning permission ends in 2028). West Penslade will not come online until then. 
The bottom line is that Straitgate is not quite so urgent after all. 

Furthermore, as we posted last month, Aggregate Industries now says that if current market conditions persist then Straitgate will have to be "mothballed". Local people will wonder what strategic thinking goes on at Aggregate Industries, if any. 

What else does DCC/4399/2024 tell us? In relation to groundwater and nearby water users: 
5.7.3 Throughout the lifetime of the development, some 2 m thickness of unsaturated material will be retained beneath the quarry floor at the western margin of the Houndaller Extension. 
Compare and contrast that with extraction all the way down to the maximum water table at Straitgate, a site with more than 10 times the number of nearby private water supplies at risk than at Houndaller. Even so, Aggregate Industries again recognises that private supplies will be put at risk:
5.7.14 In the unlikely event that a supply is shown to have been impacted by quarry-related drawdown, the following approach is proposed to provide mitigation… The fallback position would be the provision of mains water. AIUK would cover the costs for mains water connection and usage at any property where the water supply is affected by the quarry development. 
What ecological damage will be done in removing those treacherous quarry faces? 
3.5.3 As part of the remedial works for the two unstable ridges within the northern extent of Houndaller, approximately 28,863m2 of lowland mixed deciduous woodland is required to be removed.
 

Which rather undoes this PR piece pushed out by Aggregate Industries last year, congratulating itself for planting saplings at Hillhead. 

Devon County Council is accepting comments on DCC/4399/2024 until 29/06/2024.
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