Showcase Awards

The Quarry Products Association’s annual Restoration Awards

On 20 March over 400 MPs, civil servants, senior industry representatives and environmentalists gathered at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London to hear the results of the Quarry Products Association’s annual Restoration Awards scheme, which rewards excellence in quarry restoration and after-use.

This year’s awards were presented by QPA chairman Lord Sutherland of Houndwood, in the presence of Tony McNulty MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Housing, Planning and Regeneration, at the QPA’s ‘Quarry Showcase 2003’ event, which was hosted by BBC newscaster Peter Sissons.

Eight sites received awards this year, with the industry’s top accolade, the Cooper-Heyman Cup, being presented to Tarmac Southern’s Berwick Woods Project, near Rainham in Essex. Among the remaining seven winners, an Award with Special Merit was presented to Lafarge Aggregates for Whisby Nature World in Lincolnshire.

In a speech highlighting quarrying’s vital contribution to construction and its influence on a large sector of the British economy, Tony McNulty also commended the industry’s restoration record, saying that well before terms such as ‘ISO 14001’ or ‘EMAS’ became fashionable, good-quality restoration had been a feature of the quarrying industry’s response to the environmental challenge.

Describing restoration as a way of helping to deal with landscape impacts, Mr McNulty said that all the main minerals industries had made great strides in the quality of restoration and aftercare in the last 20–25 years. ‘Depending on the site and material extracted, the land can go right back to agriculture or forestry — that is truly ‘borrowing’ the land in a sustainable way,’ he said. ‘Where that is not appropriate or possible, recreational uses or habitat creation and enhancements can be developed.’

Entrants to the QPA Restoration Awards Scheme are judged on all aspects of the restoration process, from the original planning conditions, through the techniques employed during restoration, to the final end use. Details of all of this year’s award-winning restoration schemes are presented below.

Cooper-Heyman Cup

Berwick Woods Project, Essex

Since Tarmac inherited this virtually derelict quarry in the 1980s, some 12,000 trees and shrubs have been planted to create a community woodland, existing reed beds have been enhanced and a pond created with a safe dipping platform for children. The makeover has been achieved by Tarmac Southern in partnership with Thames Chase, an organization whose mission is to renew the local landscape by creating a community forest.

The site’s natural attractions have also been enhanced through advice from English Nature and the London Borough of Havering, and Berwick Woods now boasts London’s largest area of wet woodland. In addition, some 2,000m of surfaced pathways and a bridleway have been built and a large area of open grassland established, but the project’s greatest success is the level of community involvement and enjoyment it has achieved.

The site lies between Rainham and Hornchurch, two communities divided by the river Ingrebourne, but by providing two new bridges, the Berwick Woods Project has given greater access and brought these communities closer together.

Award with Special Merit

Whisby Nature World, Lincolnshire

Lafarge Aggregates worked in partnership with Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, Lincolnshire County Council and North Kesteven District Council to transform this former sand and gravel site into a 150ha haven for wildlife filled with lakes, ponds, wetland, woodland, scrub and grassland, all linked by an extensive network of paths.

In addition to providing a safe haven for many plants and wildlife, including more than 60 species of breeding birds, Whisby Nature World also benefits the community, with over 100,000 people visiting the site every year. An attraction that is proving particularly popular with school groups is the Natural World Centre exhibition gallery housing the Lafarge ‘Materials for our built world’ exhibition, which explores themes such as climate change, restoration projects and the need for aggregates.

Award Winners

Brockholes Quarry, Lancashire

This nature conservation area occupies nearly a quarter of Hanson Aggregates’ 100ha Brockholes Quarry, near Preston. The main objective was to integrate a large expanse of open water into the landscape and to generally enhance the area with new woodland and hedgerows. Work started in 1995 and final planting of the first phase was completed in 2001. The lake will ultimately be one of several developed as quarrying progresses.

Brockholes makes a significant contribution to biodiversity by providing several priority habitats including reed beds. Over 130 bird species have been recorded at the site to date, including several priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. The conservation lake is popular with children and teachers, and several colleges and universities also use the site for educational purposes.

Carmel Woods, Carmarthenshire

Carmel Woods, a 63ha area that has been regenerated and recolonized, forms part of the Carmel National Nature Reserve and attracts countless visitors each year. Tarmac Western worked closely with the Countryside Council for Wales and other organizations to deliver a management agreement that gives access to everyone, including disabled people. This agreement has provided for the creation of almost three miles of footpaths and for information boards.

Features of particular interest at the site include a turlough, a unique geographical feature comprising a lake with neither an inlet or an outlet; its water level is wholly controlled by the hydrological behaviour of the underlying limestone. The area is already a Site of Special Scientific Interest for both its biology and geology, and it awaits a still higher designation as a Special Area of Conservation.

Cheviot Quarry, Northumberland

Some 60ha of this 101ha site, formerly a second world war fighter pilot training aerodrome, have been restored by Tarmac Northern. The old airfield with its concrete runways and derelict hangers has now made way for a return to flying by gliding enthusiasts.

Although the original restoration objective was to return the site to sheep grazing, a major change came in 1996 with the decision to allow the Borders Gliding Club to return to Milfield, the site it had left several years earlier to make way for quarrying. Further areas will be handed over to the club as they are restored.

Forest Rock Wood, Leicestershire

Hanson Aggregates’ Forest Rock Wood site has been created on the site of Forest Rock Quarry, formerly part of the much larger Whitwick Quarry now operated by Midland Quarry Products. The original restoration scheme required the creation of hillside pasture, but with plans for a National Forest across 200 square miles of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire, it was subsequently decided to develop new woodland to blend in with nearby mature woodland.

Some 15,000 trees and shrubs have been planted at the 11ha site, with over 80% of the new trees being native broadleaf species. Other new habitats include meadow grassland and a pond fed by a nearby spring. Public access has also been encouraged with the construction of more than half-a-mile of new footpaths which link into the wider local network.

Kirkby Gravel Pit Nature Reserve, Lincolnshire

Covering nearly 15ha astride the river Bain and comprising three lakes and surrounding land areas, this nature reserve was developed by Woodhall Spa Sand & Gravel in partnership with the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. The aim was to create fluctuating water levels subject to seasonal wetting and drying out, a habitat popular with many wildfowl and migratory birds.

Willows and other native species planted around the edges of the quarry provide screening for the car park and bird hide, while other lake margins have developed naturally. With around 24 species of butterfly flourishing among over 200 types of trees, shrubs and plants, together with no fewer than 78 different fungi, Kirkby is making an important contribution to Lincolnshire’s Biodiversity Action Plan.

Waterford Heath, Hertfordshire

The restoration of this 40ha Lafarge Aggregates site has been carried out with enthusiastic support from the local councils, wildlife trusts and the local community. Split into two parts, the north section of the site has poor-quality soil but its naturally regenerated chalk grassland allows rare species to thrive, attracting numerous plants and insects.

The southern part of the heath, previously housing the silt settlement ponds, has richer soils supporting a less-diverse flora but does include mature trees and an expanding colony of orchids. Last year saw an important step forward with the publication of a long-term ecological management plan for the site by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.

• This year’s Quarry Showcase event was also used as an opportunity to launch ‘Geodiversity and the minerals industry’, a joint QPA, SAMSA and English Nature handbook providing guidance on planning, operating, restoring and managing mineral sites for geodiversity.