The Asphalt Committee have and will continue to be very active in lobbying and working with stakeholders to ensure that the Road Surfacing industry in Northern Ireland is successful. The Committee have enjoyed an ongoing working relationship with Roads Service that has brought about some significant benefits for both the industry and Roads Service. In the past number of years the Industry has had what could best be described as an extremely frustrating and challenging time as the drastic cuts in the roads maintenance budget allocations saw cutbacks in labour and investment by most company’s just months after being told to expect significant and consistent investment in the roads maintenance budgets.

The Association, along with a number of other organisations such as IHT, IAT and the Freight Transport Association, met with Ministers MLAs and 16 of the local Councils highlighting the impact of the reduced spending both on the industry and the roads network. There were many articles carried both on TV and Radio. BBC Newsline carried two articles on successive evenings on the 6.30 programme highlighting the examples of the deteriorating roads across Northern Ireland. On BBC Radio Ulsters Talkback programme almost 45 minutes was given over to a phone in on the state of our roads and on which I was live in the studio.

The Committee have also been working hard to achieve consistency across Government Departments in the recognition of quality, safety and environmental management systems.

The work that the Committee have carried out with the Central Claims Unit of Roads Service has resulted in Public Liability Claims reducing steadily over the past three years. Most of this can be attributed to better site safety and record keeping by our members.

Committee Members