ALTERATIONS are proposed to a planning permission at a sand quarry set in open countryside.

The application has been put forward by Tarmac which had approval in 2001 to extract 1.27m tonnes of sand at Cobden Farm Quarry on Commonside in Little Budworth.

Conditions were imposed to restrict the extraction of sand to within 1.2m of the highest recorded water levels to ensure there was no effect on the local ground water system.

Tarmac was also required to restore the land to a minimum of 1m above this level.

County Planning Officer Alan Thornley says in a report that in 2001, ground water conditions reached their highest levels since records began in the 1940s.

The permission had been based on levels measured in 1999 and the company had incurred a loss of about 180,000 tonnes of sand.

The quarry, on the A54 near Little Budworth, is 700m away from a site of special scientific interest and a special area of conservation, according to the report.

Planners had four objections, raising concerns about the effect of working closer to the water table and raising issues about traffic, dust and the effect of the change on nature.

The application, which is recommended for approval, will be considered by the County's development regulatory committee at a County Hall meeting on Tuesday.