The Princetown visitor centre has been given a reprieve today (Friday) with Dartmoor National Park Authority(DNPA) agreeing to keep it open until the end of October 2025.

The meeting at DNPA Parke HQ to consider when to close the Dartmoor National Park Visitor Centre was attended by a delegation of villagers and businesses who are campaigning to keep the centre open for the long term.

DNPA says it has been starved of funding and cannot afford to maintain the old building which it leases from the Duchy of Cornwall. The centre will continue opening as normal until closure in October ahead of the DNPA March 2026 lease end. The centre was expected to close this March when the current lease ends - so a small victory for the delegation.

Protesters are very concerned the closure will hit the economy of Princetown by drastically cutting the number of visitors and reducing custom to B&Bs, shops and pubs. They fear the village could become a ghost town unless the visitor centre is kept open as a tourist destination for those exploring the area and spending much-needed money in local businesses.

Princetown sculptor Nick Bennett, who spoke at today’s DNPA meeting, said after the DNPA meeting: “We had a small success in that the closure has been delayed from March '25 to October '25.

“It was a fiery meeting today. The main take away for the DNPA is that we'd like them to come out of their offices and engage with Princetown business, the Duchy and the council(s) and try to find solutions rather than simply throwing the village onto a proverbial scrapheap as per the current proposal.”

Sam McNeill, of the Princetown outdoor clothing shop and environmental expeditions at Base Camp, said: “It's progress but at the moment only a delay. However it gives time for further exploration and talks about a solution that might be even better.”

Campaigners want the DNPA and the buildings’ owners to give villagers, partners and businesses more time to find ways of making the building pay for itself through some income generation.

At their meeting, DNPA members considered a detailed report setting out the financial context and the need to make ongoing savings to help address a real-term reduction in central government funding.

The decision comes after consultations with staff and trade unions. Local organisations and businesses attended the meeting to make representations.

Speaking after the meeting Authority Chair Pamela Woods said: “Authority Members agreed to keep the centre open and to draw £50,000 from reserves to cover staffing costs, though this doesn’t include costs linked to the wider building.

“Meanwhile, we will continue to engage with partners and the wider community to explore other longer-term visitor offers.

“At the same time, we’re progressing our exciting work on a National Lottery Heritage Fund bid to make Princetown one of three ‘hubs’ where people can connect with, and enjoy, the qualities that make this National Park such a special place.

She thanked all the people and organisations who attended the meeting and expressed their views, and DNPA staff who ‘remained professional and positive through what has been a very difficult period’.

Pamela added: “Funding for English National Parks remains precarious. Much like the public sector more widely, it has been extremely challenging for several years, with continued austerity impacting and changing the services authorities can and cannot deliver. “

As well as Princetown, the authority runs visitor centres at Haytor and Postbridge. Proposals to close the visitor centre at Princetown were first considered in 2022. A £440,000 one-off grant from Defra in March 2023 enabled the centre to stay open until March 2025, though there’s never been any guarantee similar funds would become available.

Last November, Dartmoor National Park Authority agreed not to renew or extend the lease beyond March 2026.