A COUNTY councillor is mounting a legal challenge to a decision taken by his own colleagues to approve a controversial planning application.

North Yorkshire county councillor Paul Richardson is campaigning against plans to expand a quarry near Ripon Racecourse.

During the next nine years, 850,000 tonnes of sand and gravel would be extracted from the area under the scheme. There have beenwidespread protests from neighbouring villagers in Littlethorpe.

Despite representing the village on the council, a newly introduced code of conduct barred Coun Richardson from speaking at the planning meeting at which the decision was taken in the summer, because he lived close to the quarry.

He has now begun a High Court battle against North Yorkshire County Council to quash the planning decision - a legal fight which, if he wins, could call the validity of the code of conduct into question.

At a preliminary hearing in London this week, judge Mr Justice Collins, agreed the case could proceed to the next stage of the legal process and a full hearing is likely to take place within three months.

Having described the issue as his freedom of speech crusade, Coun Richardson said he was delighted with the decision. A Conservative member of the council, he said that although he did not have a vote at the meeting he wanted to speak up for local residents.

He said: "I regard this as a freedom of speech issue.

"If I had been a member of the planning committee I accept I would not have been able to speak and vote on the issue.

"But democracy goes out of the window when a councillor can't go and speak from the sidelines."

If Coun Richardson wins the case, the county council will have to reconsider its decision on the planning application.

The case could have repercussions for councillors throughout the country.

Work is already under way on the Ripon City Quarry extension.

Littlethorpe Parish Council has joined the action after 435 signatures were collected on a in a petition to protest about the quarry plans.

At the time of the application, Quarry firm Brown and Potter Ltd was backed by 77 letters of support, many of them from local contractors.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council said: "This is not just a challenge to the county council but also to the Secretary of State. It is the Government which is responsible for the new model code of conduct which we follow very closely and all members have signed up to it."