Tarmac win Cooper-Heyman Cup

Panshanger Park site receives top honours at MPA Restoration & Biodiversity Awards

TARMAC’s Panshanger Park site has received the top honours at the Mineral Product Association’s (MPA) Restoration & Biodiversity Awards at the Royal Society in London.

The company and its partners, the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, were awarded the prestigious Cooper-Heyman Cup in recognition of their work to sensitively manage the grade II* listed landscape at Panshanger, which has been restored to agriculture and nature conservation, with 500 of the estate’s 1,000 acres being opened to the public through the creation of a country park.

In addition to winning the Cooper-Heyman Cup, Tarmac were also runners-up in the restoration category for their site at Cloddach, near Elgin, which has been restored to a mosaic of lakes, wetlands, islands and wet woodland, and agriculture.

Michael Cardus, manager of Tarmac’s Dry Rigg Quarry, won the biodiversity individual contribution award, and also won the photography competition for his image of sand martins, for which he received the Butterfield Trophy from television presenter Sybil Ruscoe.

Martin Riley (left of photo), senior vice-president of Tarmac and MPA chairman, said: ‘I’m immensely proud of the work we and our partners do to manage biodiversity and deliver careful restoration across our quarries.

‘The wins for Panshanger and Cloddach are thoroughly deserved, and testament to the dedication and hard work of all involved at the site, as well as our partner organizations such as the Wildlife Trusts. Congratulations go to all of the entrants.’

Lesley Davies, chief executive of Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, added: ‘We are delighted that the excellent restoration of Panshanger Park has been recognized with the prestigious Cooper-Heyman Cup.

‘The Trust has worked closely with Tarmac and Herts County Council to develop Panshanger into the haven it is today, both for people and wildlife.

‘We would like to extend our thanks to Tarmac as well as to all the dedicated staff and volunteers at the Trust who have contributed to the successful restoration of the park, from the Forest School to the many events at the park and important biological surveying. We look forward to continuing our work in this area and seeing Panshanger flourish.’

In addition to the above successes, Tarmac also received the following commendations:

• Restoration awards: Rampton Quarry– sand and gravel quarry restored to a mix of agriculture and nature conservation.
• Biodiversity: Landscape scale – Trent Valley partnership work with RSPB and Wildlife Trust to create linked wetland habitats.
• Biodiversity: Landscape scale – Sandy Quarry and Rammamere Heath – heathland restoration on the Greensand Ridge Nature Improvement Area in partnership with the RSPB and Greensand Trust.
• Biodiversity: Planned Restoration – Dry Rigg and Arcow Quarrries – landscape-scale restoration and provision of priority habitats in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
• Biodiversity: Planned Restoration – Derbyshire Limestone Quarries – strategic approach to limestone restoration in Derbyshire.

In addition, Ian Rumbellow, quarry manager at Barham, won third place in the photography competition for his kingfisher photo.