A CONSERVATION management plan for Ash Moor pit which will nurture the site into species rich grassland with hedgerows and woodland was given approval by Devon county councillors last week.
The controversial site between Meeth and Petrockstowe is still being restored, but members of the Development Control Committee approved the DEFRA plan, which contains proposals for the management of the site ? including arrangements for grazing ? and guidance for the future site management beyond the five year period of DEFRA ownership.
The pit was built by DEFRA?s predecessor MAFF in 2001 and was intended to take 900,000 animal carcasses from the foot and mouth epidemic but was never used.
The plan aims to nurture the site into a species-rich grassland native of the area, interspersed with hedgerows and woodland.
However, questions remain about what will happen after the five-year period when DEFRA intends to retain ownership of the site expires.
DEFRA officials told a meeting in April ? attended by John Burnett MP and a county council representative ? that it was not within their powers to gift the land to another party.
However the plan suggests it might be possible to enter into an agreement similar to that worked out for another unused burial site near Durham which has been leased to Durham Wildlife Trust to manage for 20 years.
Joe Skinner, spokesman for the STAMP (Stop The Ash Moor Pit) campaign, said the group welcomed the management plan.
?I think it is an excellent plan, as long as it is implemented as written down in the report, it should return the area back to culm grassland.
?The one remaining concern is that even if it is leased out for 20 years, it is still going to be in DEFRA?s ownership, but basically it is a good plan,? he said.