Yorks and humber

Illegal quarrrying is stopped in National Park
Thanks in part to years of reasoned lobbying by CPRE Peak District, Backdale Quarry was forced to stop illegally mining limestone on 30 January. The quarry on Longstone Edge in the National Park had been flagrantly flouting its planning permission.

While it had permission to remove small quantities of limestone in order to extract the vein mineral fluorspar from the quarry, recent estimates show that 175,000 tonnes of limestone have been carted away and sold on as construction aggregate and only 400 tonnes of fluorspar have been produced - none of which has left the site. The Peak District National Park Authority issued a stop notice on the quarry. The authority is monitoring the site and will seek a court injunction for any activity that is contrary to the stop notice.

Greenfield protected (Rotherham)
CPRE Peak District & South Yorkshire helped to protect local greenfield by successfully arguing at a public inquiry that 300 new houses near Kiveton Park Station, Rotherham should not be permitted. The development was proposed for a former steelworks site allocated for employment and was therefore a departure from the unitary development plan.

The site is in a generally rural area and at least half of it consists of open fields which have never been developed. The inspector and the secretary of state agreed with the CPRE branch that much of the site is greenfield, despite the applicant's claim that it is entirely brownfield.

The branch argued that the development would spoil nearby rolling farmland in the Green Belt and the inspector agreed. The inspector also agreed that there is plenty of brownfield land available for housing in urban parts of the borough and that the fairly remote location of the site would have encouraged more travel by car, contrary to the Government's intention to integrate development and transport.

Peak District's industrial landscape preserved (Bonsall Moor)
A landscape of ancient lead mining remains has been spared the scar of a modern quarry, thanks to the hard work of CPRE Peak District and South Yorkshire.

The inspector at a public inquiry has rejected an application by the Slinter Mining Company Ltd (now part of Marshalls plc) to extend extraction of fluorspar at the Tearsall Quarry on Bonsall Moor. The site lies close to the Northern Dale lead mines, an ancient monument that attracts many visitors. Quarrying so near this tourist area would introduce 'an alien feature, a visual scar in the same vista', argues Andy Tickell, senior campaigner for the branch. The inspector agreed. 'Rarely has an argument for the preservation of industrial heritage been so successful against quarrying in this area', Andy says.

It is also the first time that a presumption in favour of extracting fluorspar has been overridden. Production of this source of fluorine is regarded by the Government as being in the national interest because of fluorine's industrial uses. Inspectors argued, however, that the small amount of the mineral that would be quarried here was insufficient to outweigh the presence of the lead mines.

It seems that tourism and preservation of ancient remains have become factors in quarrying decisions.This result also illustrates a trend towards good practice in quarrying in the national park.

... 'Tearsall was very badly run for years,' says Andy. 'There were consistently more lorries per day than the allowance.'

Irresponsible operators face difficulties in getting permissions for quarrying: companies need to make a commitment to good landscape restoration in order to have applications granted.

Slowly, quarrying in the Peak District is becoming more environmentally responsible. Perhaps this result signals a growing respect for heritage, too.