Latest News from the British Aggregates Association

31 October 2008

• Volume Metric Concrete. We extend a very warm welcome to our latest associate member and to Director Jay Singh. They supply on-site mixed concrete and sand and are based in Gravesend, Kent – more details here

17 October 2008

• Raymond Brown win top business award. Our congratulations to Ron Isaac and Steve Cole on receiving this year’s KPMG Company of the Year at the recent Hampshire Business Awards for their Minerals and Recycling Division.

• We extend a very warm welcome to our latest associate member United Asphalt and to Managing Director Ross Snape. They are asphalt producers based in Berkshire, suppliers of asphalt, macadam, thin surfacing and associated products – more details here.

10 October 2008

• We extend a very warm welcome to our latest associate member Tyrone Stone and to Director Nigel Noble. They are roadstone merchants based in Stockport and are suppliers of all types of primary and secondary aggregates (recycled, sand and gravel), and mini-mix Concrete – more details here.

29 July 2008

• A very warm welcome to our latest member and to Nicholas Johnston. They produce aggregates from the off-cuts from their dimension stone operations at Creeton and Oathill Quarries – more information on the stone here and Great Tew Estate here.

21 July 2008

• Soil and rubble gets a recycling boost thanks to Raymond Brown - Hub-4 Newsletter August 19th 2008

  Raymond Brown Minerals & Recycling is contributing to Hampshire's renowned recycling initiative after clinching a new contract with Hopkins Recycling - one of Hampshire County Council's contractors.

• Longcliffe to provide scholarships at Harper Adams - Quarry Management E-Bulletin August 20th, 2008

  HARPER Adams University College, one of the UK’s leading providers of higher education for the land-based industries, has announce a new partnership with Derbyshire-based Longcliffe Group, with the launch of two student scholarships.

  The Longcliffe and Vital Earth (a wholly owned subsidiary of Longcliffe) scholarship programmes will support countryside management and agriculture students, respectively, to the tune of £2,000 in each of their second and final years of a BSc degree programme at the Shropshire university college.

18 April 2008

• New Associate member – Wind Direct A warm welcome to our latest member recruit and to Chris Porter and his team. Wind Direct specialise in on-site electricity generation by installing wind turbines on industrial and commercial sites, at no cost or development risk to clients. Offering Zero Carbon, Zero Risk, Zero Capital, and Low Cost Electricity.
  

29 February 2008

• A warm welcome to Ralph Stubbs and his company as new associate BAA members; they specialise in the quarrying and construction industry sectors, providing SHE consultancy services and bespoke and accredited training courses – including for several of our members.

1 February 2008

• BAA members Hugh King & Co achieve SHE NVQs
  Congratulations to this small family business in Ayrshire in successfully achieving their SHE awards from the EMP Awarding Body - full story and reporting here

25 January 2008

• BAA new member – Rotherham Sand & Gravel, Scrooby Top, Doncaster. We are delighted to welcome Paul Scholey, Tom Kenyon and their team as our first full members of 2008. They run a family-owned sand and gravel operation in South Yorkshire and also a concrete plant.
  

12 October 2007

• BAA supports Camborne scheme for UK quarries. BAA backing for the Camborne QuarrySafe scheme was announced at a press conference recently along with co-sponsors WBB Minerals – this scheme is very much part of the BAA Site Audit Scheme.(see Press Release)
From left to right - Andy Price (WBB), Jon Bennett (CSM), Richard Bird (BAA)



• Congratulations to Associate member Ruth Allington (GWP Consultants) on her very successful recent fund-raising efforts for both Cancer Research (£1K+); and on 30th September the Great North Run (21Km, half marathon) to support the work of WaterAid. She would like to thank all BAA members who supported her.

13 April 2007

• Not-So-Green Ministers and Not-So-Clever Ideas from the Environment Ministry! BAA have written to Environment Minister David Milliband following his remarks on BBC Radio 4's Farming Today that he didn't see restored quarries as very green! The response to the third round DEFRA consultation on Environmental Permitting proposals (EPP) can be found in Documentation..
• Cement Market We continue to receive feedback from members of the problems they are experiencing, applications from some new members, support from many quarters and input from Cartel Damage Claims SA (CDC). Further comment continues in various new places.
• Aggregates Tax We have also made input to the European Environment Agency report considering introducing aggregates/minerals tax across the EU. This was primarily to challenge the misrepresentation of facts by spin from Treasury and the government-owned quango WRAP. In reality aggregates output from official (AMRI) statistics for 2004 and 2005 was higher than in 2003. The recently published government-sponsored Symonds' survey of recycled aggregates in England for 2005 shows the amount recycled was little changed from 2001 and 2003 at about 46 million tonnes - so much for the myth of the tax increasing the amount recycled!!.

23 March 2007

• Budget Blues – A bad Spring Solstice for UK Industry & SME Quarriers in particular. Budget Day brought a 22% increase on the Aggregates Levy from April 2008 assuming it gets rubber stamped by parliament – up to £1.95/t except in Northern Ireland – which is over double the inflation rate since the 2002 introduction of this environmentally damaging tax. It also brought a 25% increase on red diesel fuel duty and a 16% hike on small business tax! Overall industry will bear an extra £1.9billion tax on Treasury forecasts in 2008/2009 – to assist in the country’s further decline in the world stakes. The Chancellor also announced further cuts in infrastructure spend on roads, schools and hospitals so a double whammy on our industry. As government buys nearly 60% of aggregates this will fuel inflation, council tax bills and the spiraling London Olympics cost.

  Meanwhile muted silence over the future of the aggregates levy sustainability fund – which should in theory go up from £35M to £43M a year – and whether or not we are going to be exempt from the next stealth tax – planning gain supplement. Read our press release here.

• BAA Launches Cement Market Investigation Many of our members who buy cement are having extreme difficulty getting hold of it, prices are going through the roof and those attempting to bring in from outside the UK haven’t been able to for a host of reasons. Our press release has been picked up in various places including front page Contract Journal.

16 March 2007

• A warm welcome to Carol Godfrey and the team at Hippowash who are our latest Associate member and a well-known manufacturer, supplier and service company for wheel wash systems. More details on our website and theirs.

2 February 2007

• We welcome Ian and James Cameron and their operations in Ballater, Aberdeenshire as new BAA members. Castle Plant (Deeside) Ltd are suppliers and contractors to Cairngorm National Park of all grades of sand and gravel.
• Living With Minerals - Why Minerals Matter This CBI Minerals Group publication was launched at the Conference in London last November and is available on our website. There has been very favourable feedback - and is apparently hot reading in unfamiliar business and local authority reception areas - even some doctor and dentist surgeries. One worth putting in your own reception areas – and distributing to the "not the usual suspects".

8 December

• Stealth taxation. Some good news in the Chancellor's pre-budget report (PBR). He seems to have listened to industry concerns and at least backed-off index-linking the ubiquitous aggregates tax. On Planning Gain-supplement (PGS) whilst the whole exercise could still be abandoned minerals may well be excluded from the scope following very active lobbying by BAA. The Barker review on Planning Reform recommends a simplification of the planning application process to ensure that decisions can be reached more quickly, and as suggested by BAA she calls for a resumption of presumption in favour, whereby a planning application will be granted unless there are strong reasons against it.

17 November

• Aggregates Levy. BAA's appeal against the Court of First Instance (CFI) judgement in Luxembourg will be made to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The reasons are outlined on the press release page - doc 65.

20 October

• We welcome as new members Chris Parry (Director) and his team in the rock quarries in Anglesey, N Wales and his waste, recycling and plant hire business. More details are in the AZ Members Directory.

13 October

• Archaeological Research Services. We warmly welcome as new associate members Clive Waddington and his team based in Bakewell, Derbyshire and Newcastle University.They are archaeological contractors offering consultancy, all archaeological fieldwork (fieldwalking, trenching, geophysics, excavation etc), interpretation and publicity. More details can be obtained from www.archaeologicalresearchservices.com or (T) 01629 814540 or the AZ Associate Members Directory
  

22 September

• Planning Gain Supplement. CBI has published its research on the potential impacts of the Government's proposals. '"The more these proposals are examined, the more pitfalls become exposed.'" The full report and executive summary can be found on http://www.cbi.org.uk/planning. The findings on page 84 and items 3 and 4 have particular relevance to minerals.Table 2 on page 88 shows that the impact on minerals is proportionately much greater than on major development sites. BAA raised the issue with CPA ahead of their meeting with Financial Secretary John Healey last week, and we have followed this up with a letter to him raising our concerns unless minerals are excluded from the proposals.

15th September

• Aggregates Levy - CFI judgement. Whilst a disappointing decision from Luxembourg on Wednesday, it is only BAA single-minded determination that has united the industry on the issue to see this SME discrimatory and environmentally damaging tax repealed. Our press release went out on Wednesday (see 'Press Releases') and has been already picked up in various places - and we have received numerous messages of support from companies, individuals and other trade associations and bodies.
• SAFED driver training. Middleton Aggregates driver Chris Claxton was voted driver of the month for June. Brian Nelson reports that "..I think the fact that all the training was free, my fuel figures improved by approx 6% and it also increased driver awareness cannot be all bad. I would recommend BAA members to give it a go - they have nothing to lose but could end up gaining. The contact for further info is Michael Kemp 01552682157 or mobile 07795275962 - or contact me on 07887763844 and I will explain the benefits it has given ourselves".

11 August

• Yet another new BAA member - the fifth already this year. A very warm welcome to John Bird and Shaun Robson of Yarrows Aggregates, Beverley,Yorkshire. They have a sand and gravel operation, and bagging plant. (T) 01964 544304
• Aggregates Tax. Precautionary Claims. Whilst most members and many non-BAA members have already taken this action it is still not too late to file claims ahead of the court judgement which is expected to be announced in the autumn.
• Quarrying in National Parks. Further to our response to the consultation we issued our own press release.

7 July

• We are delighted to welcome Andrew Thompson and his company as new BAA members. More details from their website www.wthompsonandson.co.uk

30 June

• We are delighted to welcome yet another new associate member, MBK Motor Rewinds Ltd who are offering BAA members a discount. Contact details from www.mbk-rewinds.co.uk

23 June

• New Associate Member. We are delighted to welcome Heaton Planning Ltd of Keyworth, Nottingham - and Christian Smith - as new members. You will find full details of their company on http://www.heatonplanning.co.uk

19 May

• Aggregates Levy Precautionary Claims. We continue to get good coverage in Construction News - and you can see the most recent articles on our press page. We understand that claims are now even higher - from over 50 individual companies.

31 March

• Aggregates levy - Precautionary Claims. Most members and many non-BAA members have taken this action. We had further good coverage for the third week in Construction News but members should however note that they can still continue to file their claims even after today. (31st March).
• Good News Slot! Congratulations to Thomas Armstrong's, who were recently awarded with the SAFED national award for 'Driver of the Month' via the Aggregates Driver Development funding.The photo shows from left to right: Jason Norman SAFED national driver of the month, Ian Morrison Logistics Manager at Thomas Armstrong's, Robin Brow CEO of System Group who provided the training.
• Planning Reform - Barker Review. The BAA response to this consultation has been sent to the Treasury and is available on our website. Whilst we welcomed the governments intention to create a strong and vibrant planning system that delivered faster, more timely and business-friendly decisions with the recent planning reforms, we have been disappointed that the current indicators are not encouraging most particularly for the supply of minerals to meet society and national needs. We believe much more streamlining is required, a return to the pre-1991 presumption in favour of development, and stronger support from elected councillors, MPs, Ministers and publicly-paid officials to planning officials and their decisions. http://www.british-aggregates.co.uk/documentation/documentation.html
  

17 March

• Aggregates Levy. Our Press release hit the front page of Construction News and also the comment column -
  Even the Government's central argument that it encourages the use of recycled aggregates lacks any real substance. Where reliable performance is required for structural applications there is always going to be a need for virgin aggregates, whatever subsidy is given to encourage the use of recycled materials. The only thing the tax is promoting is an evergrowing waste mountain of by-product, which is too expensive to sell. If the levy is justified, then reason is dead. It is still a little early to call the outcome from the European Court of First Instance case, but all quarry owners would do well to get down to work on their claims for a whopping tax rebate.
• The majority of members have already signed up with Herbert Smith's along with several non-BAA members. Those who haven't yet are advised to join us. http://www.british-aggregates.co.uk/news/press.html
  

10 February

• SAFED Local Driver of the Month. We are delighted that Paul Wixey of Cullimores won this award and was presented with a certificate and model vehicle on 2nd February. The company was also presented with a model. The pic shows attending the ceremony (left to right) Nick Rees (SAFED RHA Wiltshire tutoring course), Mike Farmer, (RHA Regional Director), Paul Wixey, Moreton Cullimore, lady SAFED tutor and Phillip Whitman (Cullimores' General Manager).
• English Nature ALSF Event - Peter Huxtable gave a presentation at this in London on Wednesday 8 February.

3 February

• Several members have asked for at least one item of good news each week - will rely on member input - but here is a starter...I received a telephone call from the President of Poulton Cricket Club and Parish Council (a small village in the Cotswold water park) thanking us for the ALSF contribution of some £34K from Gloucestershire CC towards completing their cricket pavilion - and that we shall be mentioned in their "Roll of honour".

13 January

• GWP Consultants. Welcome to our latest new associate member and to Ruth Allington. They specialise in evaluation, design, delivery and management of earth and water resources projects. Full details of their services can be found on www.gwp.uk.com

2005

16 December

• Good coverage in the press. BAA views on Scottish waste proposals and EU Mine Waste Directive in MQR, and our concerns on Planning guidance in Mineral planning; and BAA dismay at the new planning stealth tax on SMEs at local level from April 2006 is covered in Contract Journal, Construction News and Mineral Planning. See Press Releases.

18 November

• Welcome to yet another associate member - Norman Butcher and Jones and their representative Christian Kay. NBJ offer BAA members insurance cover arrangements. Further details can be found in the Member's Area under services.

11 November 2005

• We welcome Coastal Resources of Dunblane, and Ian Wilson as our latest new associate member.

4 November 2005

• Government Planning Policy. With BAA responding to both the MPS1 consultation in England and the SPPG4 in Scotland - we received a good coverage in the technical press this week over our concerns that the government do not have a clear, coherent direction and policy on aggregate and mineral extraction and that unless the politicians and decision makers give unequivocal and coherent commitment there will be more litigation and less investment!

14 October 2005

• Time To Stand Up to Tom, Dick and Harry. BAA's Director Robert Durward has again contributed the foreward in the latest Quarries and Mines Directory published this week. A copy of this editorial is attached. (Word or PDF)

3 October 2005

• BAA/MIRO Research Project. The report of the ALSF funded project which several BAA members participated has been published and all members will receive a CD version shortly. It is also available on the MIST website.

30 September 2005

• Bridgend Sand and Gravel. We welcome Wilson Strachan and his company as a new member with operations in Banff.
• EU Sunlight Directive. The EU have withdrawn some 70 draft Directives as part of the better regulation initiative. This includes the Optical Directive which BAA has been actively campaigning against as impractical, over-the-top and straight duplication!

7 September 2005

• QNJAC. BAA have now been given a second seat on this important advisory group. Steve Cole joins Ian Glendinning (Glendinnings) as our representatives; and Graham Geddes (Geddes Group) and Paul Geaves(Middleton's) are available to deputise. The next meeting is in London on 4th October - and members with any input should contact on this occasion Steve or Paul.

2 September 2005

• New Associate Member. We welcome Roland Gude and the KPMG Environment Team of business advisors as new BAA members.
• Planning. BAA have responded to the proposals in England and Wales to impose monitoring fees on planning permissions. We consider these unfair to SMEs and propose that the schemes are dropped as a contribution to the government commitment to better regulation and reducing red tape. Thanks to all who have contributed to the position paper on planning problems being compiled by CPA for ODPM - current draft available for any additional comments. Phil Thacker attended a meeting this week for BAA on the planning proposals in Scotland - and more specifically on proposed Good Neighbour Agreements.
• FleetEye Vehicle Tracking. Barrie Fox of associate member Weighsoft www.cobhamsystems.co.uk are offering a £50 discount on this sytem to BAA members during September. They will be on stand 578 at Recycling & Waste Management 2005 (RWM05), NEC Birmingham 13-15 September. www.rwmexhibition.com

26 August 2005

• Safe Driver Training - SAFED. Further to the details the other week of the ALSF scheme for companies with operator licenses in England - we now have details of their training scheme being rolled out by the Scottish Executive.

12 August 2005

• Aggregates Levy. We have gained support from the SCDI who have written to the Chancellor, Gordon Brown. SCDI is not convinced that the Aggregates Levy is achieving its primary objectives. Research by the BAA shows that the reduction in sales of primary aggregate is due to factors such as changes in construction methods and the impact of the Landfill Tax rather than the effect of the Aggregates Levy. SCDI also notes that, as the Levy is a flat rate tax, the burden is having a disproportionately high impact in Scotland caused by the substantially lower price of aggregates in Scotland. The letter recommends that the Aggregates Levy is withdrawn as it is not meeting its objectives.

22 July 2005

• Associate Members. We welcome two new members this week. Alistair Smith of AMS Associates, Innerleithen; and Mike Holt of Envar Ltd, Leeds. Full details available in associates' directory.
• ALSF Funding / English Nature and Countryside Agency. Members are reminded that monies are available from this source and should be looked at as joint ventures with local community groups, your local wildlife trust - or even other groups like RSPB. The next calls close respectively on 15th August and 17th November.

See also:

• Press Releases