A High Court judge has overturned the planning inspector's decision to block quarrying at Longstone Edge, Peak District. Unfortunately, the quarry owners won their appeal and mining can and has resumed.

At the end of February 2008, a High Court Judge overturned the inspectorate’s decision at Longstone Edge and ruled that the quarry operators could continue to remove and sell as much limestone as operationally possible, so long as some fluorspar is extracted. This effectively gives the owners carte blanche to extract as much material as they want.

The judge indicated that he did not agree with either the inspector's or the National Park Authority's interpretation of the original 1952 planning permission and the fact that the quarry is situated within a national park bore little impact on his decision. The implications of his decision are that old mineral permissions, covered by older planning laws (Review of old mineral permissions – ROMPs) may give the green light for more extraction work elsewhere, particularly in our valued and ‘protected’ National Parks.

The future is bleak unless a Higher Court – the Court of Appeal - takes a different view. The parties who can make a further appeal are the Secretary of State for DEFRA (and National Parks), Hilary Benn and the National Park Authority, and it has to be based on legal arguments relevant to the High Court Judge’s ruling. There are significant costs implications in going to the Court of Appeal but the cost of not going for the National Park is incalculable.

A major new coalition of national and local environmental and amenity groups, have called on Government ministers to step in and save the Peak District from uncontrolled quarrying.  The coalition includes the British Mountaineering Council, the Council for National Parks, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Friends of the Earth, Friends of the Peak District, Plantlife, the Ramblers’ Association and the Save Longstone Edge Group today. Read a full press release.

The local MP for the area, Patrick McLoughlin is meeting with Hilary Benn to urge him to act quickly. As BMC members, you too can write to your local MP

Help us campaign:
If you would like to help us campaign to save Longstone Edge and to ensure our National Parks are protected from destruction by unnecessary quarrying activity, then please write to your local MP expressing your concerns and asking them to write to the Secretary of State to urge him to act swiftly. Your local MP can be found here.

Download the campaign letter (pdf)

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