Meeting Local Needs

Essential local materials

Sand and gravel – known as aggregates – are essential for everything in our built environment, from new housing and community facilities to better public spaces and infrastructure. These raw materials can only be sourced where they are naturally deposited beneath undeveloped land, such as the area between Rainham, Hornchurch and Upminster.

That’s why Rainham Quarry has been an important source of building materials for six decades, supplying local sand and gravel in bulk for larger projects and in bags to local merchants for the DIY market. The site is also able to process recycled aggregates (from demolition rubble) and there’s a ready-mixed concrete plant which delivers to building sites in the surrounding area.

Supplying local developments

In recent years we have supplied concrete and aggregates to building projects including Nelmes Primary School in Hornchurch, Hall Mead School in Upminster and New City College Rainham Campus. Numerous housing developments have also been built with materials from Rainham Quarry, as have several landmark commercial and industrial enterprises, supporting employment, regeneration and the local economy.

As the availability of materials at East Hall Farm reduces, following an application to extract minerals from one final field at the site, the demand must be met from elsewhere. The site at Rainham Lodge Farm has long been recognised as a potential source of sand and gravel, and is located in a mineral safeguarding area in accordance with planning policy.

There are ambitious regeneration plans in and around Havering, including the ‘12 Sites’ Regeneration Programme and new facilities such as St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub. These developments all require aggregates. Recycled materials have a part to play, but there is still a demand for newly-quarried sand and gravel. The most efficient way to meet the continued demand for these materials, both economically and environmentally, is to source them close to where they are needed, hence our proposal at Rainham Lodge Farm.

The site for the proposed quarry at Rainham Lodge Farm is to the west of Berwick Pond Road on land between Upminster, Hornchurch and Rainham). The 55-hectare site is mainly agricultural land, generally sloping from the north east to the south west towards the River Ingrebourne.

There are several small areas of deciduous woodland in the western part of the site with existing hedgerows on specific field boundaries. The site is accessed directly from Berwick Pond Road past existing farm buildings.

Local Geology

Beneath the surface are glacial deposits of sands and gravels which are ideal for use in building. The mineral which we propose to quarry is deposited beneath the soil layers. Test drilling indicates that the thickness of the mineral deposit ranges from less than one metre in some places to a depth of more than six metres in others.

About Brett

Brett is the UK’s largest independent construction and building materials group and has been operating in the area for almost 60 years. Formed in 1909 and privately owned, we pride ourselves on taking a long-term view. Our business is based on acting responsibly, delivering quality in everything we do and building relationships to underpin our status as a trusted partner.

We specialise in a number of areas of aggregates and construction related activity:

• Material supply (primary and recycled aggregates, asphalt, concrete and specialist pre-cast products such as retaining kerbs, pavement products)
• Dredging and processing of marine dredged aggregates and operation of wharf facilities
• Operation of rail loading and unloading facilities
• Supply of highly specialised concrete mixes to precast concrete products including manufacture of concrete tunnel lining segments
• Providing on-site concrete plants and their specialist requirements for major developments
• Spoil disposal (significant rail, road and water connected capacities).

For further details about Brett visit https://www.brett.co.uk/about

A Responsible Operator

At Brett we take our environmental responsibilities extremely seriously, and we believe that risk minimisation, legal compliance and responsible sourcing, together with the continuous improvement of our operating methods, are fundamental to the way we do business.

This approach is achieved through the specific policies which are supported by our integrated management systems QHEST (Quality, Health, Environment, Safety, Sustainably Together). We promote responsible sourcing throughout our supply chain in line with our business values and to ensure the Brett values of Customer Care, Quality and Integrity are maintained. Brett Group businesses are audited regularly and hold certification to recognised standards as appropriate to their business; these include:

• BS EN ISO 14001 – Environmental management
• BS EN ISO 9001 – Quality management
• BS OHSAS 18001 – Occupational health and safety management
• BES 6001 – Responsible sourcing of products

These accreditations and certifications give our customers, landowners and neighbours the confidence that we take our operational safety, quality and environmental responsibilities seriously.