Two CrowdJustice Appeals have raised an amazing £14,825 for Wicklesham Quarry! Thanks to your incredible support I have been able to take the case to Protect Wicklesham Quarry from Development to the High Court, where our hearing before Judge John Howell lasted a full two days - half a day more than expected. The Vale of White Horse District Council hired the services of eminent QC, Suzanne Ornsby, a senior counsel specializing in planning, local government and environmental law, in addition to those of a barrister. I was represented by talented and passionate barrister and legal academic, Dr Pavlos Eleftheriadis, with special interests and a rapidly growing reputation for environmental, European and constitutional law, in addition to planning and public law. My brilliant solicitor was Linda Felton of Fortune Green, whose former practise was in local government law. This complex case involved three separate areas of law: environmental law and the role of Strategic Environmental Assessment; minerals and waste planning law and policy; and the relationship between a neighbourhood plan and the adopted Local Plan. Wicklesham Quarry raises important, untested questions, and the judgment will have far-reaching effects. Judge Howell asked incisive questions throughout of both counsels, and clearly warmed to the complexity and interest of his task as the case went on. It was an exciting two days! We now wait to called back to court for the Judge's verdict. I want to pay a very special tribute to my legal team for the enormous amount of hard work and commitment they have put into this case over the past year, in the knowledge that whatever I could raise through CrowdJustice was unlikely to include their fees, in the event that we lost the case. This rare level of generosity and commitment to supporting access to justice suddenly seems all the more important, in the light of recent devastating events in London and the terrible revelation that people who sought legal representation to have their concerns heard, were denied legal aid. To say that the world needs more lawyers like Pavlos Eleftheriadis and Linda Felton who place social responsibility and an absolute commitment to social and environmental justice at the forefront of their legal practise can only be an understatement. I can never thank them enough. The Aarhus Convention, which has protected me from adverse costs of more than £5,000, is currently under attack. Rule changes propose to allow those challenged by Aarhus claimants to oppose this limit. CrowdJustice is one of the reasons given to justify these rule changes. I can only say, having brought a case in this way, that without the Aarhus Convention, this case would not have come to court. Let's keep our fingers crossed for victory!