Sir, Words rarely fail me, but I was briefly struck speechless by the news that the Council for National Parks had decided to defy the recent unanimous decision of three senior judges in the Court of Appeal to refuse them leave to appeal to the House of Lords. The CNP's campaign not only flies in the face of local opinion and local democracy - it is now acting in blatant defiance and abuse of our legal system. Do they not realise that the Upper House of the Mother of Parliaments has more on its plate than to satisfy their egos. The arguments over Bluestone have been well- fought and decided locally - or so we thought. The CNP chairman seems to think that there is a significant body of local people who oppose Bluestone. All opinion polls have indicated otherwise, and all levels of local and regional government seem agreed that the economic case outweighs the weak arguments over precedent and local disruption put forward by the likes of CPRW. Even within the Friends of the Pembrokeshire National Park - of which I remain proud to be a member - there is a sizeable minority who support the case for Bluestone. Perhaps a further opinion poll should be run to measure the degree of local disgust at CNP's attempt to ruin one of the best economic prospects on Pembrokeshire's horizon.
Mike Shaw, Solva.