Backdale Quarry public inquiry closes

LAST month’s public inquiry into quarrying at Backdale in the Peak District National Park concluded on 28 February with Planning Inspector David Baldock saying he expects to announce his decision before 18 May.

The 10-day inquiry followed enforcement action by the Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA) to stop alleged excess removal of limestone from Backdale Quarry on Longstone Edge, near Bakewell.

The site is covered by a 1952 planning permission primarily for the extraction of the vein minerals fluorspar and barytes, which occur within the limestone, but the PDNPA contends that quarrying operations have breached the planning permission by removing significantly more limestone than is permitted.

The quarry’s owners, Bleaklow Industries, and operators, MMC Mineral Processing Ltd, appealed against the enforcement action, which triggered the inquiry.

The PDNPA and pressure groups such as CPRE and the Save Longstone Edge Group are particularly concerned about what they see as the ‘irreversible impact of quarrying activity on the national park landscape’. However, it was made clear during the inquiry that this could not be taken into consideration by the Inspector during his deliberations.

Mr Baldock stated at the outset that ‘interpretation of the planning permission’ would be the decisive issue, as well as the nature of the quarrying operations between 2002 and May 2006, when the PDNPA served a stop notice.

Once the Inspector has made his decision, either party will have the right to appeal to the High Court.