A VISION for a cluster of North Yorkshire communities which have been blighted by quarrying faces its first acid test this week.

Scorton, Brompton-on-Swale, Kiplin, Ellerton and Bolton-on-Swale have had to endure lorries rumbling along the roads on their way to gravel pits nearby for decades.

There are even plans in the pipeline to extend the life on some of the workings by establishing a landfill site and waste recycling plant at the old Tancred quarry - although they have already been resisted fiercely by people with homes nearby.

However, the Scorton Lakes Working Party - set up to look at the long-term future of the area - has also come up with an alternative.

It is hoping the old pits will become lakes, with woodlands established on the shores to create wildlife habitats, attracting visitors from all over the UK and abroad who could stay in new hotel accommodation.

A new network of cycle ways could complement the facilities available to walkers, while it is hoped that some of the lakes could also be used for watersports similar to those already available at Ellerton.

However, a meeting this week decides if it all remains a dream - or if more research will be recommended to the district's planning department.

The Richmondshire Local Plan Working Group votes tomorrow on whether it will endorse the concept, which could prove the first step towards the ambitious scheme becoming part of the local authority's blueprint for the future.

Working party chairman and Scorton councillor, Michael Heseltine, said: "If we don't think big, then we are going to end up with lots of smaller projects springing up in the area instead.

"We have to see things on a grander scale and I have to say I have been gratified by the response from the public so far.

"People I have spoken to can see the potential, both for employment and for economic development; the A1 is close by so we already have a transport infrastructure.

"I am determined to do whatever I can to keep the momentum going; it is important we have a positive approach to the future.''