QPA widens commitment to restoration

THE Quarry Products Association has widened its commitment to the restoration of quarries in the UK with the launch of a comprehensive new fail-safe guarantee. The QPA Restoration Guarantee Fund has been extended to cover all aggregate operations, including hard rock sites, and provides a £1 million overall guarantee to planning authorities against restoration default.

The fund, membership of which is a condition of QPA membership, commits to provide financial indemnity to planning authorities if a rock, sand and gravel or silica sand member of the QPA defaults on restoration obligations by virtue of becoming insolvent. It is set up as an arms’ length limited company and provides for a £1 million overall guarantee against restoration default, with a single claim limit of £500,000.

The original fund covered only sand and gravel quarries operated by QPA members and, although it has been in operation since 1975, has never been called upon.

Simon van der Byl, director general of the QPA, said: ‘We recognize that some local authorities may, when granting a planning permission for a quarry, require the security of knowing that they can ensure its ultimate restoration. This fund provides them and their local communities with an important safety net.’