Cabinet Secretary Addresses Scottish Quarrying Industry in Parliamentary Reception
The Mineral Products Association, the principal trade association for the quarrying and aggregates industry in Scotland, recently held its inaugural Parliamentary Reception in the Garden Lobby of the Scottish Parliament, where principal speaker Mr John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth, spoke of the invaluable work of the Association and its members.
Members of the Association and their guests were welcomed to the event by Nigel Don MSP. Acting in his role of Convenor of the Cross Party Group for Construction, Nigel spoke of the: “Willingness of the Parliament to encourage open dialogue and engage with the electorate. We want you all to see the work we do on your behalf and give us the opportunity to talk directly with the industry”.
The assembled visitors heard the Chairman of the Association, Alan Mackenzie, expand on “the challenges and issues we face”. He said: “The challenge our industry faces in Scotland is maintaining its current asset base of quarries, asphalt and ready mix plants and, even more critically, its existing highly skilled work force through the period, until the majority of the major Roads Schemes in the pipeline actually start.” Mackenzie also called for “A sustained, long term level of investment on our country’s infrastructure”.
Mackenzie concluded that: “The time was now right for a fundamental change in approach to dealing with planning applications for aggregates.” He said that the Association was seeking support from the highest level in the Scottish Government to help solve these issues.
The principal speaker Mr John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth, referred to Scotland’s Infrastructure Investment Plan which had enabled the Government to direct funding towards major projects such as the Queensferry Crossing; the Southern General Hospital; M8 / M73 Link and others in the near future; the AWPR, the A9, the A96 Dualling and the Ayrshire by passes.
In acknowledging the industry’s challenge in maintaining its locally based assets, Mr John Swinney MSP underlined his Government’s commitment to supporting the industry by trying to use all means available to secure the necessary finances. He explained: “The work of the Mineral Products Association and its member companies is invaluable to the Scottish economy and is essential for supporting economic recovery through capital investment and infrastructure programmes.
“We want to pull plans off shelves and see real construction activity across the country. Our Non Profit Distributing programme maximises this investment bringing immediate benefits to our economy, in particularly to the construction sector and its supply chains.
“I would also welcome the MPA’s interactions with the planning system. In terms of planning we are doing all we can to help boost the industry. Our National Planning Framework 3 recognises we need construction materials and energy minerals in a diverse energy mix. Our draft Scottish Planning Policy outlines how we will promote the responsible extraction of resources. Policy delivery will secure permitted reserves for construction aggregates for a minimum of ten years at all times in all market areas.”
Afterwards John Sheridan, Executive Director of the MPA in Scotland, gave his reaction to the evening: “We are indebted to Mr Swinney for giving us his valuable time to not only share his thoughts but also mix and chat later with our guests, talking face to face on detailed issues.”
As well as the Scottish Government and its Agencies, the audience included a number of senior officials from a wide number of stakeholders. Sheridan underlined the importance of the presence of so many senior officials, all of whom made themselves readily available for conversations with industry.
