Quarries produce aggregate that is used to build and maintain homes, schools, hospitals and roads. We all rely on this material and every one of us uses the equivalent of four tonnes of aggregate each year.
Our quarry at Craig-yr-Hesg has been operating since 1885 and produces aggregate from a deposit of blue pennant sandstone, which is an important source of material for use in road building and maintenance across south Wales and beyond.
The sandstone has high skid-resistance and abrasion properties, known as polished stone values (PSV). These properties are required for high-quality road surfacing material where the surface needs to minimise the risk of skidding, including on motorways and airport runways.
In Wales, every Mineral Planning Authority, which is usually a county borough council, is required to have identified any mineral reserves as part of its Local Development Plan (LDP).
In 2015 we submitted a planning application for a 10 million tonne extension to Craig-yr-Hesg quarry, located within ‘a preferred area of known mineral resources’ as identified by Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council in its LDP.
The application took over five years to get to planning committee but, despite policy support and a firm recommendation for approval from planning officers, the planning committee refused the application in July 2020.
An appeal was lodged against this refusal, and, in October 2022, we received permission from the Minister for Climate Change to extend the quarry. This followed a public inquiry in June 2022 at which all aspects of the quarry’s extension, including any health impacts, were assessed in detail by an independent inspector.
Modern quarrying is a safe and highly regulated sector. Going forward our operations at Craig-yr-Hesg are governed by extensive planning and permitting conditions, which apply both to the drystone plant as well as the onsite asphalt facility. These permitting controls have been developed to minimise impact on the landscape, the environment and the community and we are subject to regular compliance reviews by the regulators.