Good neighbours

Community relations are a priority for aggregate operators these days, and no one understands or exercises this better than the family-owned Stevenson Group. Its long history of community projects in South Auckland, is a lesson for the industry.  
BY ALAN TITCHALL. 

When you are one of the last quarries left in the Auckland region, and sitting on a 150-year mineral resource, it pays to plan well into the future.

“And we are here to stay,” says Stevenson Resources’ business development manager Barry Larsen.

“The Stevenson Group is a family-owned company with its roots deeply planted in the South Auckland area since 1917. Working with the local community has been an ongoing programme over the many decades, and is built into our future.”

Founded in the earthmoving industry, the company has been involved in the construction of a large number of historic infrastructure milestones in the Auckland area, including the Nihotupu Dam in the Waitakere Ranges, the Hunua Water main, the city’s Southern Motorway, the Pukekoe Race track, and Ardmore aerodrome.

Stevenson has become a diverse company, investing into agriculture, engineering, building products and property, in addition to its aggregates and mining interets. However, Drury Quarry remains the jewel in the crown of the family business, which also operates a quarry in Huntly and Kaiaua, collectively producing around three million tonnes of aggregate every year, supplying around a quarter of the Auckland Region’s annual needs.

“There used to be dozens of quarries working in the Auckland area several decades ago, but with quarries successively being pushed out by urban sprawl, there is shortage of aggregate. About 20 percent of the resource is trucked in from outside the region, mainly from the Waikato,” says Larsen. “This is not sustainable for our economy, and why protecting the mineral resource is crucial to the economic wellbeing of the region.”

Investment in the Drury Quarry has been huge, with the introduction of a computer-controlled blending plant in 2003, to meet the burgeoning demand for aggregate.

Outside of the quarry gates, the Stevenson family has always supported the local community in which it operates. On a regional level, the Stevenson Foundation is respected for its philanthropic projects and support for the likes of Auckland’s rescue helicopter trust and the redevelopment of the Auckland Museum. Less publicised are the on-going community projects undertaken by each business in the Stevenson Group. For instance, it is a major supporter of both the Papakura and Franklin District Business Awards.

School safety

Perhaps no better community project in the country best represents ‘sustainable’ action, corporate responsibility, and investing in neighbourly relations than the new Ramarama School car park.

Concerns were voiced at resident’s meeting last year over how dangerous it was to pick up children outside the school on Ararimu Road, a busy, high speed zone connecting heavy commuter traffic with Auckland’s Southern Motorway. Every morning and afternoon, around 170 school kids used to be dropped off or collected on this busy road.

Stevenson general manager for aggregates, Steve Ellis, stepped up to the task, met with the head of the school and offered to co-ordinate and fund the development of a car park within the school grounds. Stevenson donated the aggregate, while consulting engineers, Peters & Chung, and cartage contractors, Gleeson & Cox, provided their services free of charge.

Franklin District Council smoothed the consent process, which enabled Mr Shifter Earthmovers (who were paid by Stevenson) to finish construction work over the 2007/2008 Christmas holidays. A very grateful Ramarama community is safer for it, and the road opposite the school has been since designated a ‘no parking’ zone.

Stevenson’s local traffic safety programme did not stop with the school car park. The quarry operation has full consent to travel on all the local roads, but Ellis and his team set out to see if they could improve transport and traffic management and safety in the area. This involved a study project focusing on the three trucking routes to and from the quarry, and setting up electronic speed indicators in the 80 kilometre zones to educate truck drivers and even locals.

“To our surprise, some of the worst speeding offenders were some of the locals, but after the speed indicators went up, we noticed a change in driving behaviour,” says Larsen.

“But we concentrated our results and educational programme on the truck drivers in terms of watching their speed and using just the Quarry Road as the preferred route to get onto the motorway, which is in the best interest of the community.”

Green Buffer

The greater Papakura/Drury region is the first touch of rolling pastures driving south of Auckland, and is under pressure from the ‘lifestyle block’ developments that are forever encroaching on the city’s retreating green fringe. Stevenson owns about 2000 acres of farm land around its Drury resource to act as a buffer zone, and planting trees between its quarry and adjacent lifestyle blocks. A large greenbelt also mitigates community problems with noise and dust. Truck washing facilities, and rubber screen sieves and a massive new building to house the crusher, also dampen noise.

“We must plan up to 150 years from now,” says Steve Ellis, who overseas all the quarry operations. “Any decision we make today, will impact many years ahead.”

Ellis is the frontline man between the company and the public and, as the first point of contact, is directly involved in all community relations and projects.

“I personally deal with any issue. The public like to speak directly with management,” he says. And there’s no mucking around. “If we get a phone call, we respond very quickly.”

The company also sends out community newsletters and last year put on its first Community Day, to be held every two years, with a very hands-on programme. While others might shy away from bringing together moving heavy machinery and families, Ellis says there are no safety issues if you put in place the right procedures. The 2000 plus people who turned up for the first fun-filled event at the quarry would agree. The focus was the kids, he says.

“It may be too late to change the views and habits of the older generations, so it is more about today’s parents and their children and building bonds and paths to make the aggregate industry part of their future lifestyle.”

Aggregate resource is just too valuable to the community’s future well-being reiterates Ellis.

“So, educating the community about the place of the resource in all our futures, is critical. Sure, we can always do it better, and we never say we are there, but we think it is important that the industry doesn’t hide behind the trees – we have all done that for too long."