The Key Players in the Battle of Peat versus Profit

When peat extraction started on Hatfield Moor, the land was owned by Fisons, including sand & gravel extraction rights.

At the start of the 1990s there was a strong & fairly successful campaign promoting peat alternatives. This was hurting Fisons badly (indeed it eventually led to their bankruptcy and subsequent takeover by Levington in a management buyout) Fisons approached the government to sort it out, which led to "The Agreement" (as everyone seems to call it) in 1994,

• The land was passed into the ownership of English Nature ·
• The company kept all mineral extraction rights (including sand & gravel extraction, which is under the peat) ·

The Thorne & Hatfield Moors Conservation Forum (THMCF) consists of local groups and experts, many of whom have produced biological, archaeological & hydrological surveys and reports on the area on behalf of the Forum. Member organisations include: the Wildlife Trusts, Council for British Archaeology, Doncaster & District Ornithological Society, Doncaster Naturalists Society, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, the Ramblers Association, Goole Naturalists Society, the RSPB, the CPRE and Sorby Natural History Society. Their quarterly meetings are also attended by Doncaster Council minerals planning officers, the Environment Agency, English Nature, Hatfield Town Council, Friends of the Earth and the odd local MP's rep.

Doncaster Council is the local council responsible for allocating mineral rights in the area. It also has the power to rescind those rights, but if it does it will be sued by Scotts and almost certainly would have to pay compensation to them for loss of earnings amounting to several million pounds.