The case to Protect Wicklesham Quarry from Development will be heard in the High Court next week. The Judicial Review will have important consequences for the status of environmental protection policies in the planning system, and will decide whether a Neighbourhood Plan can override planning conditions for the Restoration and Aftercare of a former quarry, which is also a protected site. Over the past three years local people following this case have witnessed - * an Independent Examiner decline to re-examine Faringdon Neighbourhood Plan after receiving our objections; * quarry operator Grundon Ltd served with a Breach of Conditions Notice for failing to carry out the restoration of the quarry, after years of delay; * a meeting between a Steering Group member and the County Council to try to have the restoration order lifted (which was refused!) - because of his client's intention to turn the quarry into an industrial estate; * failure by Grundon Ltd to obtain a required Mitigation Licence from Natural England in respect of the European Protected Species; * the illegal stripping of trees and vegetation from one of the quarry's ponds- a Priority Habitat - photographed by a County Council Monitoring Officer. Whatever else we achieve, this campaign has shone a light on the driving force of local politics: land value - and the insupportable burden on the environment of development at all costs. In spite of all its designations, legal protections, and planning conditions - for biodiversity, geodiversity and landscape - the future of Wicklesham Quarry SSSI still hangs by a thread. But thanks to your support Wicklesham Quarry has a voice, and it will be heard next week in the High Court! if you can come to the High Court next week, please come and lend your support for Wicklesham Quarry. Email protectwicklesham@gmail.com if you have any queries or comments. Please share this update to Facebook, and let everyone know the CrowdJustice Appeal is open for ONE MORE WEEK and still seeking donations! https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/protect-wicklesham-quarry-from-development