Peak Park Welcomes Quarry Court Verdict

The Peak District Park Authority has welcomed a a Court of Appeal judgement on the legal status of two quarries on Stanton Moor, near Bakewell, however protestors have vowed to remain at the site.

The Park Authority had classified the long-unused quarries as 'dormant', a designation which makes it much harder to re-open the workings. The quarry owners Stancliffe Stone appealed against the decision in the Court of Appeal saying that the works were in fact 'active. The court's decision in favour of the Park Authority means that the quarries cannot be reactivated until modern environmental conditions have been imposed.

National Park Authority chair of planning Narendra Bajaria said: "While we welcome the Court of Appeal's ruling, we now have to carefully consider the best way forward in the interests of protecting the National Park."

"The Authority's members will review the options it now has in the coming months. The original planning permission remains valid, and we will have to specify working conditions for the quarries unless an alternative solution can be found."

Meanwhile protestors, who've been living in trees on the site for the last six years have vowed to fight on, according to the Yorkshire Post. They quote a spokeswoman for the protestors 'known as Julie' as saying:

"This is good news, but it is certainly not a victory. We have been here before. Until we know for certain that this quarrying will not go ahead then we will not move. The planning permission needs to be revoked."

The article also says that the quarry company is now in talks with the Park Authority in an attempt to reach a compromise deal.

The whole situation exists because planning permission for the quarries was originally granted in 1951 and is technically still valid though environmental and heritage concerns now make it massively controversial. Expansion of the quarries is opposed both by local people, who fear increased disturbance and heavy lorry traffic and environmental campaigners who fear damage to nearby prehistoric remains and, generally, to a rural environment.

It does seem vaguely insane that it's technically feasible to revive disused quarry workings in the middle of a national park on the basis of a planning application made so long ago.