 The quarry is seen by many as an intrusion on natural beauty |
The Peak District is Britain's oldest national park, attracting millions of visitors each year to more than 500 square miles of some of the most beautiful and breathtaking countryside in the country.
But beneath those lovely hills are veins of minerals like fluorspar that can be found nowhere else.
And inevitably that means quarrying with... accompanying noise, heavy lorries and unsightly scars on the landscape.
One particular quarry - at Longstone Edge near Bakewell, within sight of Chatsworth House - has prompted a campaign by local residents who fear that mineral workings are going to increase.
Save Longstone Edge Group say the operation of Backdale Quarry is in direct contravention of the spirit of all National Parks which exist to protect areas of great natural beauty, and threatened species and habitats.
Quarry Owners Bleaklow Industries say the operation is perfectly legal.
The company has had an official permission to extract fluorspar and related minerals since 1952.
Dilemma
Caught in the middle, is the Peak District National Park.
 The Peak District National Park is caught in an invidious position |
The organisation has spent a decade trying to limit the impact on the landscape and this summer, issued an enforcement notice on the Backdale Quarry which temporarily halted quarrying.
A public inquiry is to be held in February to decide what happens next.
Jim Dixon, Chief Executive of the Peak Park, said "The authority is doing its utmost. If I had a magic wand, what would I do? I'd stop the quarrying here, but we don't have a magic wand, we have the existing planning laws of the UK, and those are limited to a degree."
But Bleaklow's Rob Harpley maintains he has consistently offered to discuss restoring and screening his workings, but has been frustrated by a Peak Park bent on confrontation.
"Draconian measures" have resulted in "an enormous amount of public money being wasted," he insists.
Mixed opinions
 Quarrying... a necessary evil? |
And what do local people think?
Businessman Dick Turnbull says: "Essentially what happens is the whole place gets ripped to bits, the roads get clogged with big stone lorries, the place gets entirely covered in dust and it ends up being a major scar for all the people walking for miles and miles around."
Keen jogger and climber Ian Clough says: "It's the lorries, added traffic, falling house prices, those sorts of things, but my main concern is the impact on the environment and the beauty of the area."
But retired lorry driver Roy Holehouse said: "We must have quarrying otherwise there'd be no houses built, people out of work, no roads maintained.
"It's got to be good for the area: it's good for the trade, it's good for the people."
Government intervention
 "We very clearly need a new Act of Parliament that protects the National Parks." |
And one local resident has more experience of the political process than most.
Former Labour Minister, Lord Hattersley, lives in the nearby village of Great Longstone.
"We very clearly need a new Act of Parliament that protects the National Parks, not just this one but other National Parks in Britain where the quarrying issue is very serious."
The latest news is that Rural Affairs Minister, Barry Gardiner, says he wants to work with the Peak Park Authority to find a long-term solution to the issue of quarry-damage to Longstone Edge.
And the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire edition of The Politics Show will be coming live from the village of Calver where interested parties - and residents - will have their say.
The Politics Show
Let us know what you think.
Join the Politics Show team on Sunday 22 October 2006 at 12:00 BST on BBC One.
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