Northern Ireland’s
Quarry Products Industry
Shared Priorities for Sustainable Development
Quarry Production Association NI
The trade association for companies involved in supplying crushed rock
and sand and gravel, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, agricultural lime,
industrial lime, mortar, recycled materials and construction and
quarrying plant.
Represent:
81 Quarry Products Companies
29
3
Affiliate Members
Associate Members
QPANI is affiliated to Minerals Products Association and European
Aggregates Association (EUPG).
Staff:
Gordon Best
Laverne Bell
Fiona Taggart
Regional Director
Environment & Planning
Office Manager
Aggregate Quarries in NI
NI Primary Aggregate Production
NI primary aggregate production by rock type 2007
Others
8%
Sand & gravel
27%
Limestone
20%
Basalt &
igneous rock
(other than
granite)
29%
Sandstone
16%
Aggregate production by area/ type
A nt r i m
Sand & gravel
Londonder r y
Hard rock
T yr one
F e r ma n a g h
D own
A ma r g h
Aggregates and Society
• Aggregates are essential for development of the
economy and for maintaining our lifestyle
but…
• Extraction, processing and transport creates
significant environmental and social impact;
• aggregates operations can be very contentious;
• issues related to extraction often divisive and
politically sensitive;
• debate is often ill-informed.
Minerals & Society
The Approx Aggregate required in a person’s lifetime…
840 tonnes
of hard rock
329 tonnes
of concrete
247 tonnes of
Sand and gravel
95 tonnes
of asphalt
42 tonnes
of agricultural lime
Local Stone for Local Use
• Typical pattern of supply
in N Ireland is that stone
is used within 10km 15km of the quarry
• Added-value products
(such as concrete
blocks) may travel further
Aggregate Production
Aggregate Production
Aggregate Production
Aggregate Production
North West Region
• Total aggregate value £17,000,000
• Estimated turnover of companies involved
in cement, concrete, asphalt and
aggregate production.
£60 million
North West Region
QPANI MEMBER COMPANIES and numbers directly employed
P Bradley Kilrea 60
Armoy Homes
10
Northstone
80
B Mullan & Sons 40
AS Ballentines
18
Devine Sand & Gravel 10
Cemex 20
W & J Taggarts 12
Riddle Brothers 10
Tyrone Sand & Gravel 10
Whitemountain Quarries
80
W J Chambers & Son
55
Ardmore Concrete
10
G & G Ross Ballycastle Quarry 10
Dermot Harley & Son
10
Supermix
15
Total - 450
Key Priorities
• Protection of Jobs
• Investment in Infrastructure
• Skills of our young people
Key actions required
• More efficient planning system.
• Securing Aggregates Levy Rebate from the EU
after 2011.
• Reduce energy costs.
• High priority given to development and
maintenance of the roads network and other
infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.
• More engagement between schools, Further
Education and industry.
• Industry and political representatives working
together to seek solutions and secure inward
investment.
Imminent threat
Possible Removal of the Northern Aggregate
Levy Derogation that would mean an increase in
levy from 40p per tonne to £2.00 per tonne.
Resulting in;
•
•
•
•
Border quarries becoming uncompetitive.
Loss of jobs.
Risk of significant environmental damage.
Increase in the black market.
The importance of the construction
industry
• The construction industry is the dynamo of the
economy in Northern Ireland. Every £1 invested in
construction generates £2.84 in economic activity.
Other business sectors rely heavily on a buoyant
construction sector.
• The construction industry is labour intensive. Pound
for pound the construction sector provides more
jobs than many other industrial sectors. particularly
in rural areas.
• The construction industry builds and maintains our
schools, hospitals, social housing and roads and
water networks. This work has an enormous impact
on the quality of public service delivery.
The importance of the construction
industry
• The construction industry builds the infrastructure
which determines the long term economic
performance of Northern Ireland.
• The construction industry plays a central role in
reducing carbon emissions and reducing fuel
poverty in Northern Ireland. This is achieved by
upgrading existing buildings and ensuring that new
buildings are thermally efficient.
• The vast majority of construction expenditure is
reinvested within the local economy.
10 actions the NI Executive can take to
help the construction industry revitalise
the wider economy
• Step 1 – Make investment in the building and maintenance of
our infrastructure a top priority.
• Step 2 – Provide assistance to construction companies that are
seeking to win work abroad.
• Step 3 – Change the status of the Northern Ireland Housing
Executive so that it can borrow funds against its existing
housing stock which is valued at over £3bn.
• Step 4 – Implement fully and urgently the recommendations in
the Review of Planning.
• Step 5 – Continue to try and improve the availability of
reasonable lending facilities to local companies.
10 actions
• Step 6 – Use private finance to deliver infrastructure projects
where value for money has been clearly established.
• Step 7 – Ring fence revenue generated through water charging
to reinvest in infrastructure.
• Step 8 – Incentivise and facilitate the speedy retrofitting of the
existing housing stock to improve energy performance and
reduce fuel poverty.
• Step 9 – Implement the industry proposals for fully employed
construction apprenticeships.
• Step 10 – Continue the good work to reduce the regulatory
burden on local business as part of the Better Regulation
Programme.
The results of taking these
actions
•
Northern Ireland would recover from recession more quickly.
•
Northern Ireland would become a more attractive place for foreign
investment.
•
The Northern Irish economy would be better positioned to rebalance
the public/private split.
•
Construction companies would have a solid base of work in Northern
Ireland that would allow them to expand into other markets. This
would result in foreign investment benefiting the Northern Ireland
economy.
•
Job losses in the construction industry would be halted and the
number of ex-construction workers claiming unemployment benefit
would fall.
•
Jobs would be saved in other sectors that depend on construction
activity.
Thank you for your time!
For further information:
www.qpani.org