A CAMPAIGN body has said it will not proceed with a threatened legal challenge over the decision to approve the York Potash mine in a national park.

Independent charity, the Campaign for National Parks (CNP), today (Thursday, November 5) announced it will not mount a judicial review against the decision by the North York Moors National Park to allow the £1.7bn potash mine.

The plans to build the world’s largest potash mine at Sneaton, near Whitby, were approved by the authority earlier this summer.

The scheme was developed after 1.3bn tonnes of polyhalite were discovered below the national park and coast. It is believed to be the world’s biggest and best quality supply of the mineral, used as a crop nutrient to improve food yields.

A tunnel will also be built to transport the mineral 23 miles from the site to Wilton on Teesside where it will be processed for export.

Experts who assessed the plans believe the project could lessen the UK’s productivity gap and help balance the North/South economic divide. It is also estimated to create 1,000 direct jobs in the North York Moors and Teesside – areas where low wage economies prevail.

But other groups argue it will harm the landscape and its sense of remoteness and could set a precedent for industrial development in other national parks.

The CNP, which called on the park authority to reject the plans, announced it would look into mounting a judicial review when the Government announced it would not exercise its right to call in the application, meaning there would be no public inquiry.

The charity says following a detailed review and legal advice it will not pursue that course of action.

CNP’s chief executive, Fiona Howie, said it will now focus efforts on preventing further major industrial developments in national parks.

“We remain hugely disappointed that this development was given approval and are convinced that development of this type and scale is not appropriate in a national park,” she said.

“However, the only option available to us was judicial review. This would have been focused on challenging the process that has been undertaken, rather than the decision itself. The legal advice we received makes it clear that the National Park Authority, followed the process effectively.

“Having made this decision we will now focus our efforts on making sure this type of major development cannot be approved in National Parks in the future.

“These landscapes are meant to be given the highest level of protection by our planning system. But this case makes it clear that these protections are simply not strong enough,” she added.