Examination of Witnesses (Questions 14440
- 14459)
14440. Mr Kingston: Mr Cole, you are
David Cole, is that right?
(Mr Cole): That is correct.
14441. And you are the commercial director of
Anglia and South East Area of Tarmac Limited; between 2003 and
2005 you were the general manager of Tarmac's ready mixed concrete
operations in London, is that right?
(Mr Cole): That is correct.
14442. So you are familiar with the company's
operations in this area?
(Mr Cole): Yes.
14443. Just generally, please, with regard to
aggregates, that is essentially sand, gravel, crushed rock, some
recycled materials, how important is the supply of them and the
steady supply of them in the context of the construction industry
and any development that takes place in this country?
(Mr Cole): Absolutely essential,
from our point of view, in London. It is critical.
14444. And are you expressing a view there which
is in any sense out of accord with government policy with regard
to the supply of aggregates?
(Mr Cole): I am not, no.
It is actually recognised by government policy guidance on aggregates.
14445. And what about the quantities that we
are talking about within London? If we are looking at the Greater
London Authority area 2000-03, have you got figures you can give
in order to give some indication of the scale we are talking about?
(Mr Cole): Yes. The latest
available figures were 2000-2003, as you say, and it is approximately
15.2 million-tons of aggregates annually.
14446. To what extent is rail freight important
in the context of the movement of those materials?
(Mr Cole): About one third
of these sales rely on rail freight for delivering aggregates
into London.
14447. So how important is rail freight?
(Mr Cole): It is essential.
Absolutely vital.
14448. What about Tarmac's interest, that is
in essence the broader public interest? How much material have
you got moving by rail freight and how important is that from
your point of view?
(Mr Cole): Tarmac's business
in London is reliant on rail freight for delivery of aggregates
to the company's network of concrete and asphalt plants, and Tarmac
expects to use rail for the delivery of more than one million
tons of aggregate for each year.
14449. And to what extent is that material coming,
please, into central London?
(Mr Cole): We have tried
to simplify it and explain where our aggregates come from. In
general terms the million tons is delivered from the Mendips,
Herefordshire, Leicestershire and Essex, and we also bring in
sea-dredged material into Angerstein which is then rail-fed into
the concrete plants in central London.
14450. So Angerstein is, in essence, sea-dredged
aggregates, is that right?
(Mr Cole): It is, yes.
14451. Now, on this next document we can see
"Rail deliveries to concrete plants".[27]
It also covers, I think, the plant at Hayes, does it?
(Mr Cole): It does, indeed. Hayes
is an asphalt plant. Hatton Cross and Sipson are concrete.
14452. And the quantities we are seeing going
into central London we can see into King's Cross, where we are
seeing 200. That is 200,000 tons per annum?
(Mr Cole): It is.
14453. Into Paddington 100,000 tons per annum,
and Battersea is the same, is that right?
(Mr Cole): Yes.
14454. Thank you. In terms of transportation
of minerals of this sort of quantity and the efficiency of movement
in London, how significant is it to have access to the railways
and be able to achieve reliable delivery?
(Mr Cole): Again, it is
essential. Transport is a major consideration in the delivery
of materials to ourselves and rail is practically the only way
of getting aggregates into London for our operations.
14455. We do not need to intrude into matters
which hopefully we are not going to need to trouble the Committee
with here, but looking at your Paddington plant, for example,
as a plant the Committee will know it, broadly speaking, and there
has been a site visit, I think, so members will have seen that,
looking at the location of that plant, road network in that area,
just in general terms from a practical point of view, from the
company's point of view, deliveries to and from there?
(Mr Cole): From a practical
point of view Paddington represents one of the shortest delivery
distances we operate in. The congestion and road traffic movement
in there is very congested and we operate in a very limited area.
14456. Let's try and root those difficulties
in some sort of practical figures. One can imagine you cannot
carry concrete around for ever and expects it might not set and
present you with some difficulties when you are trying to get
it to the customer?
(Mr Cole): Indeed not.
14457. In Paddington, what sort of radius have
we got for deliveries out of that plant in order to respect the
time needed to get the concrete to where it is needed and then
avoid it being unusable?
(Mr Cole): From the point
of manufacture we have approximately two hours with which to get
the material to site and for that material to be finished with
by the contractor. That means in essence we have to travel no
more than 2 miles from our depot, two mile radius from around
our plant, and we can see that.
14458. What does this next diagram show, Mr
Cole?[28]
(Mr Cole): This shows the four
operating units that we have that deliver concrete in London.
You can see the Paddington one in the centre has the 2-mile radius
and we have Park Royal to the west, King's Cross to the east and
Battersea to the south.
14459. Obviously from your point of view it
is a commercial, perhaps more than a commercial, convenience to
have the plant at Paddington, but to what extent is the existence
of that plant and its supply something which contributes in terms
of the public interest with regard to the transport of materials
within central London?
(Mr Cole): I am sorry, could
you repeat the question, please?
27 Committee Ref: A165, Tarmac Ltd-Rail Deliveries
to Concrete Plants (LINEWD-33005-005). Back
28
Committee Ref: A165, Tarmac Ltd-Paddington and surrounding Concrete
Plants (LINEWD-33005-004). Back
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