VILLAGERS living near the A30 say the peace and tranquility of Dartmoor is being ruined by excessive noise ? they are calling for the road to be resurfaced. Campaigners are calling on people to put pressure on local authorities to address the noise problem, the main source of which they say are the concrete sections of the carriageway. Giles Healy, who lives near South Tawton, said in a letter to the Times that concrete roads were notorious for their ability to amplify engine and tyre noise. He said this combined with a ?40% rise in traffic levels over the last five years?, had ?turned the volume up to a deafening pitch?. Mr Healy forecast the problem was ?sadly due to get worse?. If by a conservative projection, traffic levels rise by a further 40% over the coming five years, Mr Healy envisages ?a recipe for catastrophe within an area once prized for its rural peace and tranquillity?. Mr Healy is a keen walker on the moor and said for those who enjoyed going on to the moor to escape the hectic pace of 21st century living, road noise was an unwelcome intrusion: ?Dartmoor is becoming a noisier place to be, it is meant to be a place of peace and tranquility,? he said. South Tawton resident John Perrin said the level of noise experienced depended on weather patterns, particularly the air pressure. ?It can be very intrusive. As the road is adjacent to a national park, I think it destroys the amenity of the area, which is supposed to be an area of quiet and calm. ?When plans for the Merrymeet Roundabout replacement scheme were first brought forward, we said if you have got all that heavy equipment in the area, why not go along and clean that stretch of road up? But they did not want to do that.? Mr Healy has raised his concerns with Dartmoor National Park Authority and wants to convince it to take a lead on the issue. The DNPA has no policy with regards to the abatement of road noise. They do, however, have leverage with the Highways Agency. Mr Healy said the adoption of a low road noise policy by the Park Authority would not require the Highways Agency to resurface the road, but would act as a ?strong point of persuasion?. ?A show of support is vital,? said Mr Healy. He urged everyone in the Okehampton area who ?valued the peace of their surroundings? to write to the National Park Authority. A spokesperson on behalf of the Highways Agency said of 3,000 lane kilometres of concrete surfaces on the strategic road network in England in 2000/2001, the Highways Agency had resurfaced 886kms of concrete road with quieter surfacing by last March. The agency had carried out a prioritisation exercise where consideration was given to how old the road was and how many people used the particular stretch. The spokesperson said: ?The current Highways Agency policy is to resurface concrete roads as part of scheduled maintenance and safety improvement works. ?It is not possible to give dates for resurfacing of specific roads, future resources for the maintenance of the network will be determined as part of the comprehensive spending review 2007. We are making good progress on resurfacing concrete roads where it is carried out as part of our regular and ongoing maintenance work.? l See Letters, page 4.