AN application to install a pay and display parking machine at a popular site on Dartmoor has been given the go-ahead.

The lower car park at Bellever Forest, on land south of Lakehead Cottage in Postbridge and next to the B3212, is owned by Forestry England.

The organisation applied to Dartmoor National Park Authority for permission to construct a footpath, erect a pay and display machine and noticeboard at the site and this was granted with a number of conditions including that a qualified archaeologist carries out a full archaeological watching brief during all stages of the development.

The footpath will serve to focus footfall in the area and reduce impact on the surrounding landscape whilst allowing improved visitor access.

The path will, in part, follow the route of an existing informal track before turning toward the direction of the village and clapper bridge.

The information board will be set adjacent to the proposed pay and display machine and will guide visitors to the trails available to explore Postbridge and Bellever.

The board and parking machine will be contained within the car park and Forestry England said these would have ‘minimal impact on the local character and appearance of this part of the Dartmoor National Park’.

The application received one letter of objection. The letter stated that if the application was approved then people would ‘park in different areas to avoid the parking charge, potentially clogging up the village and grass verges’.

‘Increasing access and revenue should not be at the expense of fundamentally altering the character of the area.

‘It is access land so how can a charge be made? There have never been charges made before, nothing has changed, why is there a need to make a charge now?’

A spokesperson from Forestry England said: ‘The path should be completed in the next few weeks to connect an easy access section to the new Moor Than Meets the Eye trails.

‘The notice board will display trail information but we don’t have a date for installation yet.

‘The parking machine is intended to bring this car park in line with the others in and around Bellever but the timing of that is also yet to be confirmed.’