RESIDENTS past and present from the Dartmoor Forest Parish are being urged to come forward and help identify the future needs of the community.

Anyone who lives or works in the parish or is a former resident who may wish to return are all invited to fill in a housing and employment survey.

Dartmoor Forest Parish is relatively remote from outside settlements and comprises disbursed settlements from Merrivale to Dartmeet and the Warren House Inn, including Princetown, Postbridge, Bellever, Hexworthy, Huccaby, Powdermills, Two Bridges, Rundlestone, Peat Cott and Whiteworks.

Nigel Tigwell, parish clerk for Dartmoor Forest, said: ‘The parish is within the Dartmoor National Park with little development normally permitted and we need to ensure any and all future development specifically addresses the future needs of our community.

‘There are many issues the council is already aware of.

‘Many young people raised in the parish are forced to move away when they set up their own homes due to a lack of low cost housing stock.

‘Others may stay with their parents but have to commute to work elsewhere due to the limited employment and self-employment sites in the parish.

‘Similarly, elderly people who wish to downsize have a very limited choice for suitable housing in the parish.

‘We also know of potential employers who cannot attract suitable workers owing to the costs of the long commute from outside the parish.’

The Princetown and Dartmoor Forest Housing and Employment Needs survey has been designed through collaboration between Dartmoor Forest Parish Council, West Devon Borough Council and the Dartmoor National Park Authority. It is designed to identify the scale and type of need for housing and workplaces in the parish.

‘We want to know how much housing is needed, what size, single storey or two, where it is needed, whether to buy or to rent and whether a self-employment office or workshop should be attached,’ added Mr Tigwell.

‘We want to understand people’s current circumstances and how they would like these to change in the future,’

All residents and aspiring residents, all employers and workers in the parish are asked to complete and return the survey, which has been posted to every address in the parish.

Further copies are available from West Devon Borough Council online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/dartmoorforest