The Symonds report commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) to examine the production and supply of natural stone in the UK was published last month (March) to the general acclaim of the stone industry.

John Bysouth, a past-President of Stone Federation Great Britain, who responded to the report on behalf of the Federation, complimented Symonds on their efforts.

He said: "Our quarry members feel under intense pressure, both open and covert. Quarrying is seen as dusty, dirty, noisy and obtrusive, yet quarrying for dimension stone does not generally come into this category."

The report is called Planning for the Supply of Building Stone and Roofing Stone in England & Wales (a preliminary report by Symonds was published in this magazine last year - see NSS August 2003). Copies (ISBN 1 85112 691 0) are available from ODPM Publications* for £25.

A much smaller survey of the stone industry which the then Department of the Environment ploughed £15,000 into in 1996 (see NSS August 1996) was greeted with as much scepticism as the current report, costing more than 10 times as much, has been greeted with enthusiasm.

The previous report predicted that imports would account for more than 50% of the stone market by 2000 if the UK industry did nothing about it. Symonds, working only in volumes rather than values, say that in 2001 (the latest figures they have) imports accounted for 66% of the stone market and that even in 1992 (when their figures begin) imports accounted for 53% of the market.

Symonds say that in 2001 the market for stone was 264% of what it had been in 1992. Indigenous production was ahead by 40%, having fallen back a little after a millennial peak. That peak and subsequent slight reduction in UK production was caused by sandstone, which would be consistent with the high level of hard landscaping activity recorded at around the turn of the millennium. Imports in 2001 were up nearly 272% on the 1992 figure.

The Symonds report was commissioned specifically to address planning matters, currently under review by the ODPM. Dimensional stone producers and their customers, particularly those in the conservation sector, had complained about the difficulty, or in some cases impossibility, of obtaining stone to match traditionally used materials. As planners try to retain vernacular traditions, they too complain about the lack of traditional stones for building and roofing.

Symonds make the point that of the 335 active and intermittently active quarries they have identified as sources of building or roofing stone in the UK, the majority are small in comparison with aggregate quarries.

Just 10% of the quarries are large, although these account for 70% of UK output, and of those just 15 account for more than half the output.

Symonds do make some recommendations in their 220-page report and they make those recommendations within the new planning framework currently being developed.

One point they make is that planning is inconsistent between different areas and they recommend the government to provide an overall \'policy steer\' to distinguish dimensional stone production from aggregate stone production.

They suggest that the concept of \'heritage quarries\' should be established to cater for the occasional extraction of stone, so that such a site is not built upon, as several former quarries have been.

Many of the recommendations are in line with thinking within the stone industry - for example, the need to create a balance between environmental protection and the built heritage and a call for a national database of active and disused building and roofing stone quarries, complemented by collections of such stones at regional centres.

They say there should be standardised planning application and administrative procedures, more widespread use of delegated powers and a planning proposal check-list for use by applicants.

The only concern expressed by the industry so far is that the report might be left gathering dust on a shelf.