Easing the pressure on snowy Dartmoor as visitors pour in

IT’S a standing winter weather joke that it only takes a light dusting of snow in those parts of the UK where it rarely falls to bring the nation sliding and slithering to a halt. But, increasingly, that cliche about Brits and winter weather needs an update, especially down here in the Westcountry.

For the past two days snow-seekers have blocked roads and brought chaos to moorland communities, as they raced to the heights to enjoy some impromptu winter sports. A combination of the Christmas and New Year holidays, a difficult few months under Covid restrictions and the lure of the relatively safe outdoors acted like frosty catnip on much of the urban population. They wanted some fun in the snow.

Modern cars, often with all-wheel drive, can nowadays make short work of snowy backroads. But the ‘go anywhere’ attitude of some drivers, whatever the weather, causes even more problems than were once created by inadequate vehicles venturing into difficult terrain.

Sheer numbers caused major problems on Dartmoor on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. A doctor, carrying vital phials of Covid vaccine to a moorland care home for administering to the residents needed a police escort to get through. Moorland locals and farmers found their way blocked by day trippers; emergency vehicles would have had no chance.

It is perfectly understandable that the snow covered moors are a big draw in winter, just as people flock to the Westcountry’s beaches at the height of summer. The difference, however, is that car parks and well marked roads show the way to the beach. Dartmoor is far less prepared for snow tourists on the few days a year on which they ascend.

The problems demonstrated over the past couple of days illustrate a larger issue for the moors of the Westcountry and those who live and work on them. Similar problems of over-zealous visitors, some of whom wanted to stay over, ‘wild camping’, arose in the summer too with the National Park Rangers forced to clear up a great deal of very unpleasant mess.

There is always going to be conflict in places seen – rightly – by the public as national assets which they have every right to explore and make use of but which cannot always cope with demand at peak periods. As more people discover the delights of the great outdoors, in all weathers, those pressures can only grow.

The Government is right to want to encourage a greater use of outdoor spaces for recreation and exercise. A policy of nudging the population into living healthier lives by reducing the ease with which they can buy unhealthy food and making exercise and healthy living easier, makes sense.

But while Ministers are saying that is their aim, funding for some of the most beautiful and accessible open spaces – our National Parks – is failing to keep up with the pressures they face. No amount of funding would make thoughtless parking on narrow moorland roads acceptable. But measures to ease the pressure, increase the number of Rangers and educate people about where they can safely go would help. Demand will increase. It has to be met.