Backdale Quarry
Owners of a controversial Peak District site have lost their bid to appeal to a European court to allow continued large-scale limestone quarrying.
The European Court of Human Rights turned down Bleaklow Industries’ right to appeal against the national park’s enforcement action to halt excessive stone extraction at Backdale Quarry, near Bakewell.
The Peak District National Park Authority welcomed the decision, the final stage in a long-running dispute over the quarry, on Longstone Edge. The Court of Appeal and House of Lords had also turned down appeals by the quarry owners, who are operating under a 1952 planning permission to extract fluorspar and other vein minerals.
But the quarry company also extracted large amounts of limestone, and the authority, backed by the British Mountaineering Council and Ramblers among others, said this was causing damage to the national park landscape.
Authority chair Narendra Bajaria said: “We very much welcome this news. It completely vindicates the commitment of the authority to defending its stance through the courts. And I’m pleased for the local community and environmental organisations that fought such a strong campaign to end this harm to the landscape and to the peace and tranquillity of the area.
“This is a major milestone in ending the unlawful removal of excessive limestone, but it is not the end of the story. We still want to work with the owners of the land and mineral rights to find a permanent solution.”
The 1952 consent is still in force at Backdale quarry and at other sites on Longstone Edge: at Wagers Flat, Peak Pasture and Beacon Rod. In 2009, the Court of Appeal upheld a planning inspector’s view that the permission should be interpreted to only allow the removal of limestone in the ratio of 2 to 1 to the vein minerals worked.
Mr Bajaria added: “We are in the process of reviewing the 1952 permission under regulations for review of old mineral permissions, and we are in discussions with the companies who have an interest in the Longstone Edge sites.”
