Machen quarry community page

About Machen quarry

Machen is a limestone quarry situated between Machen and Lower Machen, near Caerphilly, south Wales. The quarry employs a team of 6 on site, and between 15 and 30 contractors depending on operational demand, plus many more in the local supply chain also depend on it for their livelihood.

As a rail linked depot, over 65 per cent of material from the quarry is transported by rail to Birmingham, the Southeast and south Wales, helping cut carbon emissions and keep lorries off the road.

Aggregate from Machen quarry is used to supply high quality construction material to significant infrastructure projects across the south Wales region and surrounding areas. This includes specialist materials such as rock armour, which was recently supplied to Network Rail to protect the Hereford and Abergavenny railway line against flooding. Materials from Machen quarry are also being supplied to the ongoing HS2 project via West Drayton and Kidlington, as well as construction projects in Birmingham.

Machen quarry recently supplied 150,000 tonnes of aggregate to help build a large-scale battery storage facility on the Uskmouth Power Station site in Newport, transforming  a former coal fired power station into a sustainable energy park. By using existing rail infrastructure at Machen, the project delivered a 30% carbon reduction over transporting the material by road and reduced congestion on local roads.

Contact Us

For all enquiries please email: machenquarry@uk.heidelbergmaterials.com 

Become a supplier

To request information about how to become a supplier click here.

Pre-application Consultation for Recycled Aggregates Facility

‘Heidelberg materials are undertaking a formal Pre-Application Consultation exercise prior to making an application to the Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCBC) for planning permission to amend the location of the existing road planings recycling operation at the Quarry and also allow for the recycling of construction and demolition (C&D) waste, for the production of recycled aggregates.  

The relevant planning legislation requires a 28 day consultation period to allow interested parties to consider a draft of the proposed planning application and, should they wish, make representation to the applicant. Those representations will be taken into account when preparing the final planning application and considered within a Pre-application Consultation Report that will be submitted with the application to CCBC.

A copy of the proposed planning application; plans; and other supporting documents are attached and can be viewed here. 

Should you wish to make any comments, please write to Angela Collins at the following address:

SLR Consulting Ltd, 
Mill Barn, 28 Hollingworth Court, 
Turkey Mill, 
Maidstone, Kent ME14 5PP

or via email acollins@slrconsulting.com  by 18 November 2024.

Operations and blasting

A blast is scheduled for Friday, 6 December on bench 5 between approximately 12:00 – 14:00*

*Please note our blast times are approximate and, as such, are subject to change due to weather or operational safety requirements.

To keep the local community and near neighbours informed about planned quarry blasts, we notify the local council of our planned blast dates and times.

Hello Future

In 2023 Hanson UK rebranded to Heidelberg Materials. As well as aligning with our parent company, our new name better reflects the company we are today.

We’re focused on driving down carbon emissions, increasing the use of recycled materials to grow the circular economy and leading our industry towards net zero with innovative projects such as carbon capture and storage.

Some of the new Heidelberg Materials signage and vehicle livery is already in place and we hope to have completed this by the end of 2025.