which could cost 55 jobs.

Bierman's Concrete Products is appealing against a Ministry of Works decision to close its Rocky Heights operation to zone it for housing.

The company has worked the area for more than 50 years while a residential area has now built up around it.

In the eighth day of the Supreme Court appeal Government lawyer Mr. Philip Holder continued to try to prove that the quarry at Rocky Heights and the concrete products company should be treated as one planning unit.

Government believes the fact that the quarry is exhausted means the company should close down or move allowing the area to be developed for housing.

But Mr. Mark Ray and Mr. Mark Diel, representing the company, claim the company and the quarry are not directly linked and the com pany should be allowed to continue operations.

Mr. David Cattermole, who owns a planning and development consultancy firm in England and once worked for the Bermuda Planning Department, spent more than a day in the witness box giving evidence.

Mr. Cattermole said that Government assertions that Bierman's had been uncooperative in looking for new sites for their operation were wrong. He said: "All the early discussions I had with Bierman's were geared towards the company understanding what their alternatives were.

"The continued operation of the Rocky Heights site was simply one of them.

They asked for my opinion about whether they would get planning permission to relocate to Ferry Reach. They were asking what other sites were available throughout the Island which might receive the benefit of planning permission.

"We even considered whether or not further land might be created by reclamation from the ocean.'' Asked by Mr. Ray whether Gov ernment had given Bierman's problems over the years, Mr. Cattermole said: "There certainly seems to be no official willingness to find a solution to the problems.'' Earlier Mr. Cattermole had defended the company's decision to take the matter to the Supreme Court instead of to a zoning tribunal which is being held into the Bermuda Plan. In the plan the area is zoned residential.

He said: "There is an obvious con flict between this use and the surrounding residential use which has caused increasing tension over the years.'' Mr. Ray pointed out that the quarry had been there for years but had gradually been surrounded with housing. Mr. Cattermole said this had increased the conflict between Bierman's and the Government.

He said: "This is certainly not an ideal situation. It would have been not something that a self-respecting planning department would look for intentionally.'' Mr. Cattermole added that he believed a buffer area should have been provided between any housing and the industrial area.

The case continues today with legal submissions from the lawyers. It is expected to conclude tomorrow when Puisne Judge the Wor. Mrs. Justice Wade must make a decision.