AFTER a marathon session yesterday members of the North York Moors National Park planning committee narrowly voted in favour of a highly controversial £2bn potash mine.

Sirius Minerals has been given the go-ahead to mine an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of polyhalite buried below the protected Yorkshire coastline.

The scheme promises a huge economic boost for the area that will create 1,000 direct jobs, support thousands more and generate more than £1.5bn a year.

But the proposal has been controversial because the site is in the North York Moors National Park.

Opponents fear the decision will open the floodgates for more exploration in the UK's 15 National Parks and fracking companies have already been given dispensation to drill horizontally beneath national parks if wells start just outside their boundaries.

But that is in the future.

For now Sirius has won the day and it can move forward with its plans - proposals which have been designed to minimise the impact on the landscape as much as possible.

The company has devised a way of transporting the polyhalite underground to a processing site near Redcar, thus avoiding the need for unsightly towers.

However, it would be fantasy to believe such a massive project will have no impact on the landscape. The key is to make certain they are kept to an absolute minimum.

No doubt the scheme will be watched closely by its opponents and going forward we will play our part in holding Sirius to account. The National Park deserves no less.