A PUBLIC inquiry should be held on the Army's use of Dartmoor for training, says Dartmoor Preservation Association.
It hopes to prevent the Army renewing its licence to the 2,250-acre area of the moor north of Plymouth where it holds firing practice. The ten-year licence comes up for renewal in July.
Col Charlie Nutting, commanding officer for the South West, said he could not yet confirm that the Army would re-apply for its licence but it was 'more likely than not'.
John Brainbridge, chief executive of the DPA, said the area in question was owned by South West Water but was all common land used for grazing and was all classified as a site of special scientific interest.
He argued that the Army should give it back to the National Park for civilian use, as its firing ranges were underused.
'On the north side of the moor they have been advertising more firing days which were not used than days which were used. As a result people have been unable to walk there and livestock has been moved unnecessarily.'
The Army had less need for firing ranges because it was much smaller than it used to be. 'They use the same amount of land as they did 30 years ago,' he claimed.
The remaining units in other parts of the country no longer had the budgets to send people to Dartmoor for training, he added.
'We would like the army off the National Park altogether. They could go and train on Salisbury Plain.'
A public inquiry into the Army's use of Dartmoor was held in 1973, which it won, because it could not be shown that there were practical alternatives in Devon or Cornwall.