Quarry companies and their customers should not be too concerned about being charged for planning authority visits, says Michael Poultney, managing director of Portland limestone quarriers Albion Stone and deputy chairman of the Stone Federation Quarry Forum.

In the previous issue of Natural Stone Specialist we reported on new rules that require mineral planning authorities (MPAs - usually county councils) to charge for visiting quarries. Somerset County Council has put quarries in the county on notice that it will be visiting each of them four times a year at a charge of £288 a visit. The county plan to take on extra staff to make the visits. Dimension stone quarries in the county said the charge would have to be passed on to customers and could amount to £1 a tonne.

But Michael Poultney says: "There\'s nothing in this legislation that suggests we should get more visits. It\'s not there to increase monitoring, it\'s just to charge for the monitoring that\'s taking place. The MPA said to me I would get 10 visits - four to Independent, four to Bowers and two to Bowers Mine. They\'re all within 400 yards of each other. "Last time they came to our site they visited all three in 30 minutes - and we have one of the biggest dimension stone quarries in the country. I have told them to visit all three sites in one visit two or three times a year. A bucket full of common sense needs pouring over this one. Anyone having any trouble should get in touch with the Stone Federation Great Britain Quarry Forum."

Stone Federation can be contacted on Tel: 01303 856123. Email: jane.buxey@stone-federationgb. org.uk.