Dunedin City Council is taking a quarry company to court to stop it removing rock from the Saddle Hill ridgeline overlooking the Taieri Plains and parts of Dunedin.
Councillor Colin Weatherall says Jarrfray Hill's silhouette is starting to look 'lumpy' and an interim enforcement order is needed so that its shape is kept.
But Saddle View Estate director and quarry owner Calvin Fisher said the council is being over-zealous.
He said the top of the hill is just backfill and the company's measurements show it is higher than it was previously.