Communities and minerals

Being sustainable also means seeking to minimise impacts on neighbours in local communities. Over recent years, the MPA’s Showcase event has spotlighted a host of case studies that demonstrate the efforts made by individual operators, not just to exist in harmony but to make meaningful contributions to the social as well and the built fabric of their areas.

Sometimes it’s the simple (but essential) courtesy of asking people what they think about a new development proposal. Recognising the need to communicate on a regular basis, many minerals companies have initiated local liaison committees.

Links with schools have become particularly beneficial as teachers have recognised the variety of ways in which minerals can contribute not just to earth science studies but to subjects right across the curriculum, and the great resource that can be on offer via a local quarry. The MPA’s Virtual Quarry is a free online resource that has made friends amongst both teachers and pupils in classrooms right across the country.

The Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) is one important way in which the industry gives back to local communities affected by quarrying. Over recent years it has directed millions of pounds of tax paid by the industry to a wide variety of causes designed to redress the impact of quarries in their immediate areas. Further information is available from Natural England and English Heritage. A similar scheme, the Marine Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (MALSF), operates to channel funds from the marine aggregates in the same way.

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