A LEADING councillor has insisted everyone’s views will be listened to as the countdown for comments on revamped Dartmoor National Park byelaws ticks down.

Views on the byelaws, which have caused a wave of criticism from some observers, have to be with the park authority in just ten days’ time.

Philip Sanders, Devon county councillor for Yelverton Rural, which covers part of the moor, and a national park board member, made it clear there is still time for people concerned about changes to the byelaws to have them heard and potentially acted upon.

He said the changes aimed at tightening the byelaws had been carefully scanned by lawyers and the park authority officers before being put out for consultation. And he made it clear that they were not a reaction to incidents which happened following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, when visitors flocked to the national park, caused damage to the moor and snarled up the roads with traffic jams.

He said: ‘This is not a case of when you get an answer (in the consultation) you do what you wanted to do in the first place anyway. The byelaws have been around since 1988, so this is a response to that fact and not a response to Covid and the problems we had in 2020, although they were not at that level in 2021. The lawyers said that the byelaws needed to be updated, because if you wanted to take enforcement action, you would struggle to be able to do so in court.’

The revamp covers behaviour ranging from keeping dogs under control, which has caused a wave of protest, to wild camping on the moor. Tavistock Town Council were considering their official response to the consultation, which ends on November 1, at their meeting on Tuesday. One, Cllr James Ellis, has already said that the byelaws would be ignored by the minority of people who also ignored the current set.

But Cllr Sanders said: ‘There are people who, despite drinking and driving rules, still go and do it, as there are people who steal things, although they are told not to do it. There will always be a small minority who do that.

‘Wherever possible, our rangers prefer to avoid enforcement of the byelaws because they prefer to educate people instead. Enforcement (of the current byelaws) is rare, but if it needs to be done, we have got to have something which will stand up in court. We are not trying to make Dartmoor a miserable place to visit. We want people to enjoy themselves. If people have views on the matter, they will be considered and potentially used for the final draft.’

Tavistock county councillor Debo Sellis said she was concerned about the number of sheep being killed on the moor by dogs whose owners could not keep their animals under control, with incidents of animals being slaughtered being consistently reported to police.

She said: ‘As a dog owner, I am aware that you also have to have respect for farmers on the moor, who are suffering from their animals being killed.’