However there is only so much limestone you can take out of the hills, mountains and idyllic countryside’s of Britain before you cause irreversible damage and disfigurement to the landscape. Many of the current and planned quarries stand upon national parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty that are visited by thousands of people every year. People who go to be greeted by the greenery, birdsong and wildlife that you would expect to find in a park, rather that the sound of explosions, clouds of dust and a huge grey scar in the landscape.
The question that stands is weather we can go on quarrying our countryside until there is nothing left, or weather it is time to find an alternative to the cheap and accessible resource that limestone has become.
One of the main complaints about limestone quarrying has been, that as it tends to be in more rural areas the small villages and towns surrounding the quarry, have not only lost a beautiful view but have also been bombarded and clogged up with large, dusty, noisy lorries carrying limestone from the quarry. Many people feel that the quarries are unnecessarily loud and obtrusive, feeling that their quality of life has been severely lowered due to noise pollution and the blatant disregard for their opinions where the quarries are concerned.
However the quarries also offer many, well paid, local jobs to the people of the surrounding towns and villages, serving to effectively boost the economy and lower the number of unemployed people in these areas. Also because of the size of the lorries new ones, to accommodate for their wide, heavy loads, have replaced many of the original roads in villages and towns surrounding the quarries. And to add to this they have made a conscious effort to decrease noise pollution and make the quarries as dust free as possible.
Even with the promises of lower noise pollution, many people feel that with explosives and heavy machinery being used, much could not reduce noise. And that the people are being offered false hope, rather than actions.
The problems with limestone quarrying, although large are not really that valid when put up against the phenomenal profit and business that the industry had created for this country. I feel that, due to the immense need for limestone and it’s products, limestone quarrying should be allowed to continue into the foreseeable future. However I think that it would also be a good idea or solution to the many complaints and distresses caused by the industry if a considerable amount of money was put into pioneering different alternatives to limestone. So that, therefore, eventually the purpose and need of limestone quarrying would be and could be, surpassed by the inevitable advances in our knowledge. And although this is not an immediate solution to a large problem facing us, we must bear in mind that if we were to suddenly eradicate it’s use within companies products and projects we would face much more serious problems. Not only in the form of our economy, but also, in part, as consumers we would be suddenly deprived of many limestone based products.
I therefore conclude my essay on this final note that although there is, at presents no immediate solution to the quarries. We must learn to realise that there is no alternative at the moment, and people who are apposed should see through their naivety and realise that a quarry is not a permanent fixture and that if it is not within sight of their village then it will be in sight of another.
