Potash mine would boost prosperity along the east coast

HARRY Mead (Yorkshire Post, January 14) waxed poetically about the Cotswolds and the celebrities who live there and implied that if we had important people living in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park then we wouldn’t suffer the scourge of mining here.

He simply missed the point that there is no mining in the Cotswolds because there is nothing to mine.

I must confess that being a smallholder in the national park, I would benefit directly if the potash mine goes ahead. However, the financial gain would be miniscule compared with the indirect financial advantages benefiting the whole of the region and the people who live in this beautiful place.

The 5,000 jobs, and the knock on effect of increased commercial advantages that the prosperity would bring, would lift the economy along the east coast from Whitby to Scarborough and ensure prosperity for the area for the foreseeable future.

That’s the plus side, so what of Mr Mead’s point of building a mine head at Robin Hood’s Bay? He has no evidence that the mine head will be sited in this location. The directors of York Potash have not declared where they hope to site the mine entrance and have stated that unlike Boulby mine they have employed a specialist design firm that will ensure that 75 per cent of the mine head will be underground.

There are many sites along the coastal stretch between Whitby and Scarborough that are already defaced by development, caravan sites for example, and might benefit from further caring landscaping to hide them and a mine head from the views of walkers, tourists and residents alike.

Mr Mead mentions old Victorian exploitation of the area north of Whitby but fails to mention the old alum workings that are a tourist attraction on the coast near Ravenscar.

Nor does he mention the industrial landscape of the area of Littlebeck which had extensive coal mines and alum works up to 200 years ago that have now reverted to some of the most picturesque views in Yorkshire.

Exploitation of the underlying minerals does not necessary mean industrial sabotage of the park. With the help and consent of the planning authorities the scheme can and should continue with minimum impact on the wildlife and scenery of this magnificent landscape.

So Mr Mead, let the Cotswolds keep their celebrities and let North Yorkshire have the potash.

From: Brian Nugent, Pecket Well, Hebden Bridge

I AM writing to respond to Harry Mead’s recent column. As a professional forester I work largely within the North York Moors area.

One thing about this area is that it is a working landscape. Extractive industries such as quarrying, mining and harvesting of timber all shape the landscape. In turn these industries provide jobs which in turn prevent villages and market towns dying.

If the people of this beautiful area are to take Harry Mead’s advice, and concentrate on tourism, they will have to rely solely on seasonal unskilled and low-paid work.

This might not affect Mr Mead, as he has already written two books on the area. For the rest of us though the presentbalance of industrial, agricultural and tourist jobs ensures that the North Yorks Moors do not become the sole preserve of retirees and holiday homes, with the impoverished locals all forced to move away to the towns.

This has happened to a greater extent in the Yorkshire dales. Friends who live there say their children have no one to play with and have to be up at the cock crow to catch a bus to a faraway school.

Whole villages are now dormitory or second home silent apart from summer and the weekend. Local schools are threatened with closure and health services are strained with an influx of elderly retirees.

In conclusion, no one would want to vandalise the beautiful landscape of the North York Moors. Expansion of the Boltby potash mine will not do this. What it will do is provide much-needed jobs which will keep alive the most important component of the area; it’s people.