A LANDMARK victory in the campaign to halt dumping of dredged waste in Whitsand Bay has been made with the quashing of the current licence.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has 'admitted that a licence to deposit spoil off Rame Head was issued illegally', say campaigners.

'Via a consent order, filed in the High Court on Tuesday, the MMO has recognised the unlawfulness of issuing the latest licence to dredge and dump in Whitsand Bay,' said a spokesperson for the Stop Dumping in Whitsand Bay group.

'This order quashes the licence and will stop the dumping. This is a landmark for a campaign that has spanned decades.'

A spokesperson for the MMO said that the organisation would not make a statement until the judge had made his final determinations.

'Judicial review proceedings are ongoing and we can't comment further while this is the case,' the spokesperson said.

Campaigners said they were feeling happy that the dumping would cease for now – but that their fight would go on to get it 'stopped forever'.

'The good news is that we have won this stage in the fight,' said group member Tonny Steenhagen.

'The bad news is that the situation with the MMO is worse than we expected. We know, and they know, that there is arsenic, mercury and lead in the River Tamar. They are not able to prove that their screening processes are up to scratch – in other words their processes do not guarantee that these elements have not gone into the bay.'

In response, the MMO said: 'The MMO only authorises disposal to sea of sediments that have levels of contamination below agreed international guidelines. All sediments disposed to sea at the Rame Head disposal site were independently tested and found to be below these guidelines.'

The Stop Dumping in Whitsand Bay group said it was 'standing ready' to challenge the MMO again.

'Over the years Whitsand Bay and its dump site has taken millions of tons of contaminated silt,' the group said.

'In this day and age we are far more equipped to find good solutions other than simply dumping at sea. We will now work towards having the disposal site deregistered.

'We hope that over time the fine sediment will leave the bay, and that the Marine Protected Area and its associated flora and fauna will be left to recover and flourish.'