“Relationships with local communities can sometimes be
strained. The nature of quarrying means that most of the
environmental and social impacts are felt locally. We try to manage
these effectively by both management and communication to the local
community. We are currently reviewing all community communication
methods employed to establish best practice across the
business.”
From our first Sustainability Report in
2000
When Aggregate Industries came into existence,
corporate social responsibility (CSR) and philanthropy were
considered by many to be the same thing. Since then CSR has become
a mainstream activity for many companies. For us, it remains an
essential component of our approach to sustainability. The people
around us influence what we do and how we do it, in particular they
are fundamental to the maintenance of our licence to operate.
The industry has never been blind to the
concerns of our neighbours and perhaps we have not been as
sensitive as some would like in the way we address the concerns of
these communities. Since our first report in 2000, a number of key
circumstances have changed.
We have grown, as has already been said
elsewhere in this report, and with that we face the increased risk
that we become less, not more, engaged with our community
stakeholders.
We have new planning legislation which has changed the way
communities should be consulted when new planning applications are
being made. We operate in a society which has faster access to more
information and wider social networks through the internet.
Combined together these circumstances mean that appropriate and
effective engagement with the people around us is crucial for our
future sustainability.