Appeal Court throws out Moorland Association’s legal challenge against new burning regulations

Good news!

The Appeal Court has thrown out the Moorland Association’s legal challenge against the new burning regulations, which restrict burning on deep peat.

If you recall, the Moorland Association (grouse moor owners’ lobby group in England), along with three chums, applied for a judicial review last year, seeking permission to challenge Defra’s new regulations on peatland burning (Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2025), which further restrict the 2021 Regulations for burning over specific areas of peatland, specifically limiting the depth of peat where fires can be lit.

These regulations, which came in to force on 30 September 2025, were a significant blow to grouse moor owners because rotational burning (on peatland moors) is a fundamental aspect of managing a grouse moor to facilitate the maximum number of Red Grouse available to be shot.

The Moorland Association’s grounds for legal challenge could be distilled down to, ‘It’s not fair‘ and ‘Who are you to tell us what we can do on our land‘, but if you want the specific details then see here and here.

In January 2026, Mrs Justice Lieven heard the Moorland Association’s case and told the MA’s lawyers that she considered their arguments ‘hopeless’ and that “It [the Moorland Association’s argument] just seems to lose all sense of reality“.

She refused permission for the judicial review to proceed to a full hearing, because in her view, the Moorland Association’s grounds were all unarguable.

Undeterred by having to pay £29,000 costs to Defra for the first hearing, the Moorland Association decided to appeal Justice Lieven’s decision.

Another judge has now reached the same conclusion as Justice Lieven and has also refused permission for the Moorland Association’s case to proceed.

That brings the legal challenge to a close.