Membership Matters (Issue 15)

State of Play

WESTERN REGION:

Traditional sandstone road base materials in the Horsham area are under close scrutiny following at least two separate failures in recently completed new road constructions in the city of Horsham.
PETER LANGLANDS

SOUTHERN REGION:

Work has slowed down in April. Enquiries for new work are not happening at the moment.
DAVID ELDRIDGE

All sectors in the Ballarat and surrounding district areas are growing and progressing at a fairly rapid growth rate.
RAYMOND WALSH, BALLARAT REGION

NORTHERN REGION:

Gravel work has picked up substantially. Sealing aggregates is just slowing but has been busy. Rail ballast is picking up and moving due to the Albury bypass.
ROD NORTH

EASTERN REGION:

All quarries in the area are very busy and have been for 8 months. This will most likely slow down in late May.
ROB MATTHEWS

MELBOURNE REGION:

Melbourne is busy at the moment with lots of work ahead consisting mostly of private developments.
KEVIN DONOHUE

Don’t You Hate It When…

This is an old but true story about one of our members from the Eastern Region, in other words the bush…This fine specimen of manhood was a practical joker and on many a time his better half was the recipient. Now this fair damsel retained all this mischief in her memory box and patiently awaited the time when all his Christmas’ would come at once!!!

Our super hero from the bush runs a Sand Quarry and was in the process of pumping out a deep hole. In the middle of this hole he had placed the pump, but if it rained the pump was in danger of disappearing under the deluge…so our sand hero needed to keep a close eye on the weather.

One Sunday afternoon about the middle of June the skies opened up and dropped their load right over the sand pit, our hero jumped in his white super charged 4 wheel-drive vehicle and together with his fair damsel raced off to the quarry to save his beloved pump. Now when they had arrived at the destination the pump was in need of mouth to mouth resuscitation. Our hero raced into the slime to rescue the distressed apparatus…Like a creature from a swamp horror movie he waded out covered in slip from head to toe. He gave the order to his dutiful wife to return to the mansion on the hill to retrieve a change of warm clothing. He was freezing the family jewels off plus other parts of the body as well. The family castle was a good 30 minute round trip plus some. The wife returned with the warm clothing for her man who promptly jumped on the back step of the vehicle and thumped on the roof indicating that he wanted to be driven up the road a distance. The damsel obeyed and a kilometre later she heard the thump on the roof to stop. This she promptly did. Hubby jumped down and stripped stark naked…ahaaa the moment had arrived…with a wicked gleam in her eye she drove a few paces up the road and waited…hubby was no fool he smartly did a quick turn around and marched straight back to the site office naked…So the wife sat and read the Sunday paper from front to back…while the naked hero sat in the mess hut…Some one should see this thought the wife…so she drove into town to tell her married son…he was not home, so she headed back to the quarry and the thought crossed her mind…I should report an intruder in the mess hut to the local police…but on second thought and the repercussions, thought better of it…On arriving back at the quarry she found the main gate locked…he must have put on a pair of work overall and called a taxi…she mused. On arriving back at the ranch she was gob smacked at the site before her eyes, and to the dog she said…s**t mate we are both in trouble…Parked in the driveway was the old unregistered dump truck whose hoist was permanently stuck at full tilt. The super sand hero had driven this relic home stark naked…and he had to drive it back to work again the next morning a distance of some 30k’s…

Pay backs are a bitch…

COMMUNITY RELATIONS & QUARRYING

One of our country members was amazed to read a local paper article last week about their local council rejecting a proposed residential subdivision near their site. The article quoted objecting residents who argued that increasing residential development could compromise the future development and viability of the quarry! Our member was obviously delighted to hear that their quarry was so valued to the adjoining small town and rural community.

This is proof of the success of community relations programme.

This can be as simple as taking the following steps:

1. Support local businesses – always buy local if possible
2. Support the local schools through donations including donation of product – a good story in the school newsletter is invaluable
3. Consider a “free loader” policy for local residents – a free trailer or ute load of rock each year for close residents can do wonders for community relations
4. Support the local CFA by offering your site for access to back up water supplies if you are able
5. Leave copies of your customer newsletter in local stores
6. Allow local businesses to use your customer newsletter for free advertising of their services
7. Get involved with your local Landcare group as a member or sponsor
8. Attend and sponsor community events and sporting teams
9. Let the local press know whenever something of interest happens at your site. This may be increasing employees, acquisition of a new piece of equipment, re-branding your company, or even your community activities.

Remember, journalists on local papers often find it hard to find news – if you help them with a story you can guarantee that most times they will use it. At the end of the day community relations is inexpensive and also makes good business sense

Mary Thompson

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