NOTES & NEWS

Increase in Licence Fees

There have recently been substantial increases in licensing fees for both Petroleum and explosives stores. The annual renewal fee for an explosives store has increased to £17.50 for initial licensing, or renewal, from £2.25 and 63p respectively. This increase took effect from 3rd April 1978. The new rates of fees for initial licensing or renewal for Petroleum Spirit or mixtures are now reduced to three fee bands from the previous eight. These are set out below. The new fee for a transfer of licence is £2.00 (previously 50p) The fee bands are now in litres, instead of gallons as before, and for solid substances, one kilogram is to be taken as equivalent to one litre. These new fees come into being from 1st July 1978, but disappointingly, no fee has been introduced for the replacement of a licence document, following it's loss. Such a change would, I think, encourage those licensees who just cannot be bothered to look for their licence document to search a little further!

New Fees

In respect of a licence to keep a quantity not exceeding 2,500 litres £10 Exceeding 2,500 litres and not exceeding 50,000 litres - £15. Exceeding 50,00 litres - £30. Disused Tanks Working Party Following much discussion at a recent meeting of the Eastern Branch of the Association on the various problems inherent in making safe disused Petroleum Spirit tanks, and the means of solving these problems, it was decided to set up a working party drawn from authorities in the Anglian area and meeting under the wing of the Eastern branch. The inaugural meeting of this working party was on Wednesday 21st June 1978 at the Consumer Protection Department .• Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, where representatives of Beds C.C., Cambs C.C., Greater London Council., Herts C.C., Lincolnshire C.C. and Norfolk C.C. attended. Mr J.J. Thompson, G.L.C., was elected to the chair, and a frank and useful exchange of views and information took place. The minutes of the meeting have been circulated amongst employing authorities, and a further meeting is to be called to discuss the reactions of local authorities and, hopefully to proceed towards a uniform standard of "making safe", at least within the Eastern branch area.

Tanker Marking Regs soon

The Chairman of the Health anti:,afety Commission expet::ts to propose new road tanker labelling regulations shortly. Work on comprehensive general regulations governing the transport of dangerous substances by road is advancing. This was reported by Transport UnderSecretary John Horam in a Commons reply recently. (From Motor Transport July 14th

The Great Escape An item of news which was passed on to me recently concerned a Fire Brigade Petroleum Officer who was being asked for his comments on drawings ACC, the Government, and burst pipelines

More stringent testing and inspection of pipelines and more information about where they are located were called for for a proposed police station building, recently by the Association of County incorporating a Petroleum Spirit storage installation. After perusing the plans This follows a study by the ACC's Consumer for some moments, the officer drew the Services Committee into the aftermath of attention of the Architect who was with an incident in Hampshire at the end of him to the cell block, which was in close last year when the 64 mile long pipeline proximity to the petrol tank, and commented,from Fawley to Gatwick burst open, spilling with his tongue firmly in his cheek, that 70,000 gallons of oil on to adjoining fields, the means of escape from the block did not properties and part of the estuary of the seem adequate! River Hamble.