DARTMOOR National Park Authority is to ensure farm workers' homes and holiday cottages are used only by the people they were intended for, writes Nigel Canham.

Affordable housing projects are also to come under the microscope to prevent properties going to the highest bidders.

The moves have been made to preserve the stock of agricultural dwellings and prevent development that goes against policies design-ed to protect the moor's unique character.

James McInnes, chairman of the authority's development management com-mittee, said: 'The vast majority of people abide by the rules but there's always that element who believe they can change things, well we're going to monitor things a little better from now on.

'Ninety per cent of the times when an issue does arise it can be resolved quite easily but sometimes a solution can't be found and we'd rather that situation didn't arise.

'We want to be more open with people and explain up front what the conditions are, something we haven't done in the past.'

A simplified guide is to be published on the authority's website, current owners written to and the rules explained when permissions are granted.

'People give us all sorts of excuses but sometimes there isn't one and they've just done what they want,' said Mr Mcinnes.

'That undermines all the people granted permission, who are very grateful for what they have and abide by the rules.

'The problem is if a breach goes unnoticed for ten years the owner then gets a certificate of lawfulness for full residency.

'We have already written to people given agricultural conditions since 2003 saying random monitoring will be taking place and urging them to talk to us if anything has changed.

'This is not about penalties but finding solutions.Farms do go out of business and then there's no longer the need for tied accommodation and in a case like that people have every right to request the condition is dropped. Agriculture is crucial to the moor however and we need to ensure there are homes for people in the industry.'

Mr Mcinnes defen-ded the use of barn conversions for holiday use rather than per-manent accommod-ation, saying it was national guidance the authority was obliged to follow.

Owners need to prove they have stuck to the rules by providing a written bookings record while developers of small scale affordable housing projects linked to free market permissions will have to demonstrate their commitment to finding local occupants.

'We're here to protect ordinary people of Dartmoor who need properties of all types and sizes available to them,' he said.