Forward with Leicsetershire Aggregate Grants (FLAG)

Background
FLAG  was launched by Leicestershire County Council in September 2002, supported by money from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF), the overall management of which rests with Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and more recently, the L.A.A. (Local Area Agreement).

The ALSF is funded via a share of the income generated by the Aggregates Levy which is a tax on aggregate operators, the purpose of which is to fund the development of sustainable extraction methods and promote the use of recycled and secondary aggregates.  ALSF initially ran as a two-year pilot programme delivered by a range of distributing bodies including Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Somerset County Councils, chosen because of their high aggregate output.

Leicestershire County Council delivers the ALSF Fourth Objective, to compensate local communities for the impacts of aggregates extraction. Aggregate sites are distributed throughout Leicestershire; sand and gravel in central areas along the River Soar, Wreake and Trent valleys and to the south and west; granite in and around the Charnwood Forest to the north; and limestone in the north west and north east.

Summary of FLAG schemes
Since its inception in 2002, FLAG has funded a wide range of schemes run by 39 separate applicants including:

A total of 55 schemes have been funded including: