On Wednesday the 22nd of January, Lars Bäckström, the county governor of Västra Götaland, visited Benders’ new facility in Uddevalla. Clas-Åke Sörkvist (a municipal commissioner for Tanum and chairman of the “Fyrbodal federation of municipalities”) and Henrik Sundström (a municipal commissioner for Uddevala) were also present.
A personal invitation from Ove Bender, MD of Benders Sverige AB, was the background to this meeting, the purpose of which was to provide the county administrative board and the region’s municipalities with information on the reasons why Benders was setting up in Uddevalla. Discussion of the provision of raw materials for a future Bohus granite facility was also on the agenda. Meeting participants were given details of the complicated, time-consuming and expensive process a company has to undertake to get permission for granite quarrying operations. Bohusgranit/Benders are currently pursuing two applications for quarrying granite in Bohuslän. Although the applications are now a little over three years old, a final decision has not yet been given.
The county governor showed understanding for, and great interest in, Benders’ views and its requests for the streamlining of the entire process for gaining permission. He promised to bear Benders’ views in mind in further discussions within the county administrative board’s permission-processing units. A follow-up meeting has been agreed for May.
