PLANNING officers have recommended that parking ticket machines be approved for car parks at Leg O?Mutton which are currently free. The Leg O?Mutton Car Park and St Paul?s Church Car Park are both owned by the Maristowe Estate and have to date been free facilities available to tourists, shoppers, users of the church and children?s play area and for those attending the local nursing home. The introduction of parking charges has angered local residents and businesses who say it will have a detrimental impact on the village. Twenty-nine letters of objection were sent to Dartmoor National Park Authority?s development control committee which will meet tomorrow (Friday.) Buckland Monachorum Parish Council said customers might no longer use the facilities in the village if they could not park for free or they might seek alternative, less suitable parking sites in sensitive areas in the immediate vicinity. Maristowe Estate does not need planning consent to introduce charges but it does to erect the car park signs and meters. Planning officers will tell the committee, in the context of planning policies, the impact on the viability of the community facilities was not an objection that could be raised. The visual impact of the signs and machines was considered minimal. A meeting had been held between the applicant and DNP officers but there was no willingness by the applicant to enter into a funding package involving other interests, the committee was told. Maristowe Estate is implementing charges as part of a review of all its property.
