Peak Quarry Decision On Hold

The Peak District National Park Authority is waiting for the result of a Court of Appeal ruling over the future of the controversial Backdale quarry at Longstone Edge in the Peak District.


The latest episode in the long-running dispute over the interpretation of mineral extraction rights granted in 1952 was an Appeal Court hearing on 12 February at which lawyers for the government and the Park Authority sought to have a High Court decision allowing continued quarrying at the site subject to a further inspection, overturned.

At the heart of the dispute is a legal argument over whether the 1952 mineral permissions allowing the extraction of fluorspar from the quarry technically justifies the simultaneous extraction of limestone and, if so, in what proportion.

Mining was halted by the decision of a government planning inspector, but that was overturned by a High Court ruling in March 2008 and since then quarrying has continued.

Now the Park Authority and government must wait for the Court of Appeal decision on whether the High Court ruling can be overturned. There's no fixed date for the decision to be announced.

The case raises major issues about the preservation of our natural landscapes, sometime tackled eloquently by Ed Douglas in a Guardian article which compares preserving the landscape to looking after priceless works of art.

More information at www.longstone-edge.org.uk