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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