The Council challenged the grant of three mineral prospecting licences by the Department, one to Flintridge Resources and two to Dalradian Gold, under the Mineral Development Act (NI) 1969.  The total area covered by the licences was around 742 km2.  Substantial parts of the licensed areas fall within the Council’s area.  The Council also owns land which is subject to the licences.  The licensed areas contain a number of Special Areas of Conservation and Areas of Special Scientific Interest.  

The grounds of challenge included inadequate consultation, through failure to provide sufficient information to allow intelligent consideration and response and also from a failure conscientiously to take into account the product of consultation, and breach of the Habitats Directive and the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 by not considering the licences under those provisions.  It was argued that the Department instead operated a scheme which involved: (1) project splitting or salami slicing by which only parts of the mineral prospecting would ever be considered, and even then only in isolation from all other prospecting activities undertaken pursuant to the licence, rather than the whole scheme of prospecting under the licence being considered (and alongside other licences); and (2) postponing the assessment of effects until after the grant of the licence.

Another ground was that the Department failed to comply, when deciding to grant the licences, with a number of statutory duties, including: (1) under Art 4 of the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (NI) Order 1985, to have regard to the need to conserve the natural beauty and amenity of the countryside and the need to protect (so far as reasonably practicable) flora, fauna and geological and physiographical features of the countryside from any harmful effects which might result from the exercise of the functions; (2) under Art 38 of the Environment (NI) Order 2002, to take reasonable steps to further the conservation and enhancement of the flora, fauna and other features of ASSIs; and, (3) under s1(1) of the Wildlife and Natural Environment Act (NI) 2011, to further the conservation of biodiversity

DCSDC was represented by Gregory Jones KC and Richard Honey KC, instructed by Andrew Ryan of TLT.