The study estimated how much people valued avoiding the adverse environmental effects of quarrying for construction aggregates, such as crushed rock, sand and gravel, both in their locality and in landscapes of national importance.

Te n thousand respondents were picked at random from areas surrounding 21 sample quarries and other extraction sites. They were asked how much they would be willing to pay, in the form of increased taxes over a five year period, for the local quarry to be shut down, assuming that the site was restored in keeping with the surrounding landscape, and that the workers found new employment. A further 1,000 respondents, chosen at random from 21 English postcodes not near aggregates production sites, were asked what they would be willing to pay to close a quarry in a National Park (the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales were used as examples). These results show the value attributed to the environmental damages of quarrying by people not themselves directly affected.

The environmental effects which people were asked to value included: adverse effects on nature, such as loss of biodiversity; noise from quarry transport and blasting; traffic and dust levels; and visual intrusion.

From the results of the surveys, national estimates were calculated for the average amount that people are willing to pay for the environmental benefits obtained from early closure of a quarry. These are shown below for each category of sample site:

'Willingness to Pay' estimates:

The national average amount which individuals were willing to pay for the closure of all types of quarry sites, weighted by the type of output, was calculated to be £1.80 per tonne.