The Peak Authority has just conceded another legal technicality in the ongoing attempt to stop Bleaklow Industries from quarrying at Longstone Edge. The company can now potentially quarry an incredible 105 ha from an area of land north of the current Backdale Quarry, where local sources suggest 2000 tonnes of limestone are being removed every day.

In response, the Authority have just released the following statement:

"A legal notice has been served by the Peak District National Park Authority to help it determine whether quarrying activity at Wager's Flat now breaches a planning permission. The Planning Contravention Notice is the first step towards possible enforcement action against quarry operator MMC Ltd and site owner Bleaklow Industries.
The controversial operations at Wager's Flat, on Longstone Edge near Bakewell, will be discussed by the National Park Authority's Planning Committee on 19 January.

Wager's Flat is covered by a planning permission issued by the Government in 1952. Quarrying activity started at the site in July 2006. However, the Authority has received allegations that this has now extended beyond the terms of the permission. The Planning Contravention Notice requires the quarry operator to provide the Authority with the information it needs to decide whether the extraction is in breach of the permission. Chair of the Peak District National Park Authority’s Planning Committee Narendra Bajaria said: The works at Wager's Flat are extremely controversial and there is a great deal of frustration in the local community, which we share. However, we must accept that the area is covered by a valid planning permission. Before we can consider whether we can take any further action we must follow the proper legal process by serving the Planning Contravention Notice. We intend to have a full and open discussion on Wager's Flat at our next Planning Committee on 19 January. Interested parties will be able to put their views to members at the meeting.”

However not everyone is satisfied this approach will yield the necessary results, the Save Longstone Edge Group (SLEG) is pressing the Authority to take action before Christmas. Following a recently adjouned Authority planning meeting SLEG’s John Lambert said, "The history of Longstone Edge over the last 18 years has been that the National Park Authority, which has a legal duty to protect the Peak District, has done too little, too late. If they believe that they have the power to protect Longstone Edge, they should be acting much more vigorously.

If they cannot do so, they must demand new powers from the Government as a matter of urgency. Local people are fed up after 18 years of destruction. In the USA, it is a criminal offence to remove as much as a pebble from a National Park. Here, unscrupulous businesses have been allowed to take away huge amounts of limestone, leaving vast and permanent scars in our oldest and most visited National Park."

Watch this space.

 

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