WestBriton ‘ The High Court has ruled in favour of campaigners opposed to the reopening of Dean Quarry near St Keverne. The judge who oversaw a judicial review last month has announced today that planning permission granted by Cornwall Council was unlawful. It means the permission will be quashed. The action group Campaign Against Dean Super Quarry (Cads) lodged the legal challenge over the way Cornwall Council granted permission to energy company Shire Oak for buildings at the quarry earlier this year. Shire Oak already has the rights to extract rock from the disused quarry. It is thought the company wants to ship millions of tonnes of rock from the Lizard to create the breakwater for a renewable energy tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay but a spokesperson said this is not yet confirmed. The judicial review was heard at the High Court in Bristol last month. The challenge was lodged in the name of Silke Roskilly, co-owner of the farm and ice-cream business Roskilly’s. Cornwall Council granted planning permission to energy company Shire Oak earlier this year for buildings at the quarry, including an office, staff room and explosives store.

Cads argued that the council’s decision was unlawful and that, given the scale of the development, planners should have asked for an environmental-impact assessment. The council defended its decision, arguing that the application does not need an assessment. The company still has to submit an application to the Government agency Marine Management Organisation for a breakwater and jetties, to take the rock away by ship.

A spokesman for Shire Oak Quarries said: “We are disappointed with the judgement and now await the Council’s next steps in relation to determining our application for ancillary works. Dean Quarry has a valid minerals consent to operate until August 2035 and that consent is unaffected by today’s decision.”

http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Victory-campaigners-High-Court-blocks-opening/story-28391103-detail/story.html