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Community Engagement
Maintaining positive relationships with stakeholders is paramount to business success. Brickworks is embedded in local communities where the business operates, with many employees living in the local area. With a reliance on local goods, services, markets and natural resources, developing mutually beneficial relationships helps business and communities.
Brickworks has strong attendance at community forums, such as consultation for development applications and community group meetings. Company representatives maintain strong relationships with legislative and regulatory authorities and are involved with industry groups to promote issues, such as sustainable building products. In FY19, community engagement plans were developed for relevant sites. The plans have improved the company’s sociopolitical knowledge of the area, ability to identify community concerns and expectations, knowing when to engage and methods of engagement. During FY20, the plans were implemented across these sites, with engagement activities including stakeholder meetings, site visits, investigating and resolving complaints, as well as donations and other forms of support for community members and projects. Community engagement plans are now expanding for use across sites around Australia. In FY21, the target is to undertake 100 activities that relate to maintaining community relationships.
ENGAGEMENT 100 Community activities each year
Glen-Gery’s Sergeant Bluff site worked on an opportunity to support the city fire department by providing facilities to conduct training exercises. As part of a site upgrade plan for Sergeant Bluff, demolition of a building was required. Arrangements were made to allow the local community fire department to undertake a live fire training activity on the building prior to demolition. The fire department was grateful for the opportunity to sharpen their skills and appreciated Glen-Gery’s support.
Community Group Engagement at Cardup
Austral Bricks WA operates a brick factory and clay pit in Cardup, an area with strong brickmaking history since the 1890’s. In 2013, the team established the Cardup Stakeholder Consultative Group (SCG) to collaborate with community. Chaired by an independent party, the group operates in accordance with an approved Terms of Reference and consists of representatives from the local community, Ratepayers Associations and the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale.
Though the initial scope of the SCG focused on the Shale Road clay pit, this has since expanded to include discussions around the Cardup Brickworks.
Austral Bricks applied for a Development Approval (DA) for a factory upgrade, set to bring many environmental benefits, including a new and highly efficient natural gas fired kiln and baghouse scrubber.
Austral Bricks continues proactive communication with nearby residents, including holding multiple meetings with the SCG, facilitating robust discussions and adopting a transparent approach to engagement.
Ongoing Investment in Plant Upgrades
Austral Bricks NSW proposes to undertake major investments in new plants at Horsley Park Plant 22 and New Berrima. Several engagement methods were utilised to ensure stakeholder groups were given an opportunity to provide meaningful feedback for the project.
The community feedback received has enabled the team to consider the issues identified as most important to the community in its development application.
Auswest Timbers
Brickworks recognises the importance of protecting Australia’s native forests and the importance of sustainable forest management.
In October 2019, Auswest Timbers was sold to the Parkside Group, experts in Australian hardwood timber processing with 51 years’ experience in the timber milling business.
During the commissioning of Greenbushes sawmill, there were some delays which led to complications and resulted in some degraded hardwood sawlogs. The degraded logs were sold to be processed into high-grade activated carbon, rather than its intended use as a timber building product. High-grade activated carbon is used in the manufacturing process to produce silicon, which in turn is used in solar panels, silicon chips for electronic products, optical glass, aluminium alloy and polymers.
Auswest Timbers had systems in place to ensure that the hardwood products processed were derived from sustainable and certified sources.
Horsley Park Plant 22 Upgrade: Existing kilns built in 1968 being replaced by the most advanced brick making facility in the world
