IT was always going to be a contentious issue; jobs versus protecting one of the most important moorlands in Europe. Now the potash mine proposed for a site near Whitby has been given the go-ahead, people are being understandably vocal.

The real winners are farmers who will share £1.4 billion in royalties during the first 50 years of operation. But mine owners Sirius say 1,000 jobs will be created and promise: "If we can employ every single one of our team from the local area then we will."

This, of course, is great news for Whitby, which has never really recovered from the loss of its fishing fleet.

The other winners, Sirius rather grandly claim, will be the world's growing population, because pressures on agriculture and demand for food continue to grow at a rapid rate and potash is an essential component of the fertilizers required to help farmers meet this global demand.

On the face of it then, this is a no brainer. That is, until you ask pressure groups such as the Campaign for Rural England, which point out that the mine will be positioned inside the National Park and surely the whole point of such status is to prevent industrial developments like this.

So, jobs or conservation? Perhaps the biggest thing to come out of all this is that the decision to grant approval in one of England's most protected corners could be seen as a precedent for further construction. Now that really would be a contentious issue.