Cramber Tor. Photo: Phillip Kimber CC-BY-SA-2.0
National park planners have granted ‘temporary’ permission for military use of an area – for 40 years.
The chairman of Dartmoor National Park Authority said he hoped one day there would be no need for military training on Cramber Tor.
The Ministry of Defence had wanted indefinite consent to use the tor for ‘dry training’, not involving live firing.
The land is owned by South West Water and licensed to the military for training.
The exercises involve activities such as walking, map-work, laying wires for communication purposes, digging trenches, camping, military manoeuvres with troops including use of pyrotechnics, non-explosive devices, and occasional use of helicopters.
The public are excluded from the area during training.
The Open Spaces Society had objected to the application. Previously the use by the MoD was covered by Crown immunity rules.
The OSS said military use conflicts with the statutory purposes of national parks.
The campaigning charity said: “While we do not object to the low-key elements of the application, ie crawling, hiding, walking, running, cycling, cooking and camping, we do object most strongly to digging, wiring, blanks, pyrotechnics and flying, which are detrimental to the landscape and tranquillity of the moor, and of the public’s freedom to walk and ride there in beautiful and peaceful surroundings.
“We say that the Ministry of Defence has not proved an overriding need, in the public interest, for its application, nor has it provided sufficient proof that there are no alternative means of meeting any alleged need.”
But the committee today granted the MoD permission for 40 years’ use.
Bill Hitchins, chairman of the Dartmoor National Park Authority, said: “Today was the first time the authority has considered a planning application for military training at Cramber Tor on south-west Dartmoor.
“The authority has considered the environmental statement submitted by the applicants, the results of monitoring studies into military use of Cramber Tor, and listened to the views of the public and other consultees.
“In granting a temporary permission we have balanced the need for military training to support and equip our armed forces with the long-term purposes of the national park.
“We have imposed a set of conditions which will enable the military to train and for the national park authority to monitor and control the environmental impact of that training.
“Whilst accepting that the case is currently made out for training at Cramber Tor, the authority has not granted permission in perpetuity.
“The temporary permission granted means that there is a long-term stop date, and allows an opportunity for formal re-assessment of the case for continued training at that date.
“I sincerely hope that there will come a time when the military no longer needs to train on Cramber Tor as it hopefully means we live in a more peaceful world.
“Until that time we will continue to work with the military to minimise their impact and ensure the public’s enjoyment of this special place is not spoilt.”
Paul
01 February 2013Why with the MOD making cut backs on troop levels and everything else, do they need more and more of our wild spaces. It must be time for us to get some of it back and help them save money
Moorland Walker
02 February 2013Who will tidy up after them? We removed 10 glow sticks from the area this week, all dead, all stuck in the ground, following a leat so totally unnecessary for route finding - FOLLOW THE BIG DITCH FULL OF WATER would be a simple enough direction!
All the ranges have discarded Army mess - food wrappers (MOD rations), paralume flares. Do they ever send anyone out to clear up?
Quick Brown Fox
06 February 2013Oh where to start...
First - please correct your article - when training is undertaken on Cramber the public are NOT excluded. Training continues alongside access for the public and, as a regular user of the area, Im aware that there are few, if any, problems with this. This has always been the case over the last 30 years that the army has used Cramber.
Second - The Services may be cutting back on troop levels overall but it should be recognised that at the same time 20 000 British soldiers are returning home from their current postings in Germany so the overall pressure on the UK MOD training estate is likely to increase especially as, you will be glad to hear Paul, areas are being sold off to raise income to bail out the economy. Id imagine whats left will become more important - hence the need to continue at Cramber.
Third - I have worked and recreated on Dartmoor for 30 years now and am always hugely appreciative at the lack of military rubbish left anywhere. Yes there is the occasional blank round dropped, the occasional ration pack wrapper but I challenge Moorland Walker to go compare that with Spitchwick, Dartmeet, Haytor, Roborough Down, etc where the general public mass - then tell me who leaves the litter!!
Fourth - Can we please stop whinging about military training - these guys are putting their lives on the line and they need the best training the army can possibly give them. I for one am not about to risk soldiers lives by demanding they dont train on Dartmoor just so I can take a nice Sunday ramble with the dog! Get real - if you dont want to mix with the army - Dartmoor is plenty big enough to find your own space!