The people of Denholme have shown great determination in their battle to defeat plans to turn Buck Park Quarry into a landfill site. Unity in opposition to the application by Integrated Waste Management Ltd has brought the villagers together and strengthened their sense of community.

However, that togetherness could be put to the test when they are called upon to decide what they want to do next following the approval given by a planning inspector for the scheme to go ahead.

Denholme Residents Action Group has already run up a legal bill of about £12,000. The big question now is: are the villagers willing to continue to back the protest financially if legal advice suggests there is a possibility of securing a judicial review against the decision?

A meeting tonight will put their feelings to the test. They are under some pressure to make up their minds, because proceedings for a judicial review must be launched within six weeks of the inspector's decision.

They can hardly expect help from Bradford Council, which refused to grant the landfill permission but felt unable, on cost grounds, to fight in the village's corner at the planning inquiry which overturned that decision.

So if the people of Denholme do opt to battle on, challenging the inspector's verdict on grounds of visibility and noise, they largely will be on their own. However, it would not be unreasonable of them to expect some practical support from people in other districts and villages around Bradford who sympathise with their plight and hope that the day never comes when they have to fight to protect their own local environment.