Two groups united against a quarry extension in the Peak District hold meetings tomorrow.

The Save Longstone Edge group is opposing plans to extend the quarry near Bakewell, which it says will create a scar on the landscape of the limestone fell. The Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA) is holding a meeting on the same evening to inform locals of the latest developments.

The PDNPA served a stop notice on the operators of the quarry at Backdale in May this year on the grounds that the planning permission, granted in 1952, was not being adhered to. The quarrying company, MMC Mineral Processing Ltd, simply moved its operations to a different part of the ridge, Wager’s Flat, which also has 1952 planning permission.

The park authority says that until mid-summer, Wager’s Flat was a field. But now it’s being transformed into a quarry. John Lomas, the park’s director of conservation and development said: “We are continuing to monitor it very carefully to assess if the working remains lawful in our view, but we have to expect that the company could carry on working this way for some time.”
Both sides are preparing for a 10-day public inquiry, in February next year, into appeals by the landowner Bleaklow Industries and MMC Mineral Processing against the enforcement action.

The meeting at Cliff College, Calver, organised by Save Longstone Edge, starts at 7pm and will be followed immediately by the PDNPA presentation.

The campaign group can be reached via its website and the national park's view can be seen on its site