Notes from George Cunningham’s presentation:
“When I met John McCallum is 1967, he had already been in the industry for a long time, running both a sand-dredging business together with a sand supply business.
He also had the agency for Guardian Cement at both Onehunga Wharf and at Beaumont Street Auckland Depot, prior to acquisition by Milburn and more recently Holcim.
In 1969 when the Aggregates Association formed, several key people were involved ? Sandy Cormosant (Hamilton) Sir William Stevenson (WA Stevenson & Sons, Auckland), John Gillingham (River Sand & Shingle, Lower Hutt) and John McCallum (McCallum Bros, Auckland). The Aggregates Association soon had representation in Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin with most of the meetings held in Auckland. Many of the early meetings were around sorting drivers & union problems.
?One of the things that first impressed me?, said George, ?was the size of the McCallum operation. You see, John?s grandfather was a tug master, and his father the founder of the barging business?.
John has been a supporter of Aggregates Association particularly in Auckland, spending over a decade with the Association making submissions to Auckland Regional Council to ensure maintenance of access of sand to Auckland market. As the rights to extract sand from the Waikato River reduced in the early 1990?s, McCallum?s became a dominant force assisting the Aggregate & Quarry Association with preparation of submissions to protect the right to win sand.
In addition to the sand business the McCallum name is synonymous with the red decorative chip (McCallum?s chip) which is featured on the shoulders of most of Auckland?s motorways. The product is won from McCallums? Island. Transport to the island each day is by boat from nearby Kawakawa Bay, and tranpsort of chips all barged to the Beaumont Street Depot for distribution.
?John has been a cornerstone of the Auckland quarrying and sand scene. He is astute and excellent work ethic. In 1967 when NZ converted to metric, he was instrumental in assisting the industry standardise from imperial to metric units, and was McCallum Bros was one of the first quarrying companies to sell by weight rather than volume.
John also assisted rebuilding the TCA (Technical Certification Authority) course with the authors of many of the Unit standards consulting John about the content prior to final issue of the modules.
?In short, John has provided very significant assistance to the quarry and sand industry. A Life Membership is a fitting honour to John McCallum?.
Read more – visit McCallum Bros website