SUSTAINABILITY: HANSON
GROUND CONTROL TO MERCHANT YARD
When you think of a quarry, you picture a huge hole in the ground. At Hanson’s Needingworth Site in Cambridgeshire, this isn’t quite the case, as Elizabeth Jordan finds out.
“T
his whole area was originally marshland, drained back in the 1700s for agriculture as some of it still is today.” Says Robert
Townsend, Brand Manager at Hanson UK. So while Hanson owns all the surrounding land, they rent out any they aren’t yet digging to local farmers. This isn’t the end of the landscape’s journey, however, as after the sands and aggregates have been harvested, Hanson refill the dig areas to form natural habitats for wildlife that would’ve been here before the first transformation of the area, centuries ago. By creating wet areas, local
wildlife organisations have been able to plant reed-beds to encourage wetland birds back to the area.
Townsend explains, “We rely on the landscape to find these natural resources so we have great respect for the areas we dig. It’s incredibly important that we are aware of our impact on the landscape and act to return it to a flourishing natural habitat.”
Action plan
This way of thinking is the core of Hanson’s Needingworth Biodiversity Action plan, which states, “Needingworth Quarry is the largest quarry in East Anglia, working a fluvial sand and gravel deposit in the Great Ouse valley. The site is being restored to create a 700 hectare wetland nature reserve in partnership with the RSPB, which will include 460 hectares of new reedbed, constructed in phases as the quarrying of the site progresses.”
In fact, the RSPB are buying the land from Hanson once each area’s restoration is complete: “The site will create the largest reedbed site in the UK- a national priority
November 2018
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habitat that will hopefully attract a population of breeding bittern. Other areas of restoration will create habitat capable of supporting other BAP target and non-target species including Water Vole, Otter, Bearded Tit, Cetti’s Warbler and Barn Owl.”
However, Hanson know that the supply of these natural resources is not forever. “There may come a time when supplies are in higher demand than can be satisfied,” Townsend says, “While we have some huge projects coming up, we are not certain when we might be able to move our sites forwards. Since 2008, councils haven’t been signing off as much land for future quarries, meaning supply could get quite tight in future.”
In the bag
Another thing Hanson are focussing on with sustainability in mind is their packaging. “Our packed products are currently supplied in either large ready-mixed bags or smaller plastic bags. The main reasons we want to keep
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