Backdale quarry

Law Lords have turned down a quarry operator’s bid to appeal against a landmark ruling in the Peak District.

The national park authority expressed its delight at the decision, which it hopes will end what it calls the excessive extraction of limestone at Backdale quarry on Longstone Edge. It says it will now closely monitor the limited quarrying of rare minerals at the site.

Three Law Lords today turned down the request by the owner of Backdale, Bleaklow Industries, to appeal against the Peak District National Park Authority’s enforcement action. It was the latest – and campaigners hope the last – step in a long and complicated battle over the quarry. The British Mountaineering Council and the Ramblers both backed the authority’s fight to stop large-scale extraction of limestone.

In 1952, permission was granted for the extraction of fluorspar and barytes at the quarry near Bakewell. These are found alongside the limestone in the quarry, but the authority contends that these minerals form only a small proportion of the volume taken from Backdale.

A planning inspector found in favour of the Peak authority’s enforcement action to limit the quarrying. The High Court overturned this but in March this year, the Appeal Court restored the action, but Bleaklow said it would seek leave to appeal. At the time, the company said: “The planning authority was asked in 1997 to come with us to the courts for a decision on the meaning of our permission.

“They refused. All the waste of time and money that has happened since then is a consequence of that refusal.

“Twelve years later, we have now had two completely different judicial interpretations – one that means the minerals granted can be worked and now one that means, in practice, that they can’t.

“Bleaklow will consult its lawyers.”

After today’s ruling in the House of Lords, the chair of the authority Narendra Bajaria said: “We very much welcome this decision – and we hope and expect it will speed progress toward a permanent resolution of the problems on Longstone Edge.

“It is a testament to the resolve and expertise of the authority and its legal advisers. We’d like to thank all those people in the local communities, national environmental groups, MPs and the Government for their active backing of our case.

“We now want to talk directly to the companies involved to find out their intentions. Our expectation is that any future working will be in line with the interpretation of the planning permission given by the Court of Appeal. This is the definitive interpretation which the House of Lords has now said should not be challenged.”

Fluorspar – calcium fluoride – is used as a flux in metal processing and in glass and ceramic production. Derbyshire Blue John, a variety of the mineral, occurs widely in Derbyshire, most notably in Blue John Cavern near Castleton. The mineral is also used in the production of toothpaste.