THE retiring chief executive of the Dartmoor Preservation Association was given a leaving gift with a difference last Saturday. John Bainbridge was presented with a pair of wire cutters at the annual meeting of the DPA, held at Teign Community Hall at Christow. Kate Ashbrook, the association?s president, said: ?John has always been at the cutting edge of the campaign to save Dartmoor, so it is only appropriate that we should now present him with this fine implement for destroying hostile barbed wire in and around the moor.? Mr Bainbridge, who spent nine years at the helm of the DPA, said: ?I can think of many places where these will be useful. Even now, our way may be barred. ?I have always campaigned for the right to roam free on the moor ? and shall continue to do so.? Colin Turner, chairman of the DPA, said: ?For the last nine years, John has been tireless in his campaign to save the moor. He has risen before the sun and has burnt the midnight oil in order to be one step ahead of the planners, developers, exploiters and destroyers of the moor. ?John has an incisive pen, quick wit and a readable style which puts fear into the minds of the authorities.? The new chief executive of the DPA is Jonathan Cardale. He has already picked up the campaigning mantle of his predecessor, speaking out against the recent planning application to site three wind turbines on land at Okehampton, just over a kilometre from the boundaries of Dartmoor National Park. The planning application by West Coast Energy was rejected last week by West Devon Borough Council?s planning committee.