THERE have been calls for the Government to make a greater commitment to Dartmoor in the wake of the foot and mouth crisis, including increased funding and a full-time Minister for National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The calls came from the Dartmoor Preservation Association last Friday. Its chief executive, John Bainbridge, said the Government must 'stop paying lip service to the National Park ethos and get its hands dirty by intervening to save the landscape of Dartmoor from continued encroachment'.

Mr Bainbridge said 'the last great wilderness' of southern England remained very much under threat and the dream of a properly-protected National Park landscape remained 'just that — a dream'.

Speaking to the DPA's London and South East group, Mr Bainbridge called for a number of actions, including more financial resources for the park authorities together with the power to make landscape conservation orders to halt damaging schemes.

He also called for funds to support traditional farming, including grants for shepherding, landscape measures and opening up new rights of way, and greater powers for local authorities and park authorities to give financial aid and tax breaks for small businesses

Mr Bainbridge also called for a full-time minister for National Parks and AONBs and a greater readiness to call-in larger developments for a public enquiry when it was perceived an NPA had taken a decision contrary to the National Park purpose.

Congratulating the DNPA in the 50th year of Dartmoor's designation as a National Park, Mr Bainbridge said: 'To a certain extent they are fighting a series of magnificent rearguard actions with incredibly limited resources.

'We want to see a better-resourced Dartmoor National Park Authority with the legal clout to defend Dartmoor properly.

'The economic costs of foot and mouth restrictions have shown how important Dartmoor is to millions of people and just how many livelihoods depend on the wild countryside of the park.

'This is a landscape that should not be sacrificed to short-termism.'