Car parking fees to go up on Dartmoor

There will be a 20p increase for 24 hours.

Car parking fees are to go up on Dartmoor by 3.8 per cent.

Dartmoor National Park Authority members agreed the rise which will mean a 20p increase for cars parking at Princetown, Haytor upper and lower car parks, Postbridge, Meldon and Lydford for 24 hours.

The half day charge (three hours) will rise by 10p.

It brings the cost to park to £5.80 and £3.50 respectively.

Blue badge holders will pay £3.50, up from £3.40 and coaches and minibuses will pay £11.60 up from £11.20.

New charges will come into play after the statutory period of required advertising which is usually 21 days.

Toilets are being reopened in the Lydford car park after the national park took over management last year and EV charging has been put in place.

The charge for pre application advice for planning applications which was re-introduced in June 2024 will go up by 3.2 per cent in line with the government pay award.

Fees for advice on one to two residential dwellings will rise from £540 to £557 and  31-149 homes from £864 to £892.

Meeting room hire will be £150 for half a day and £300 for a whole day.

The authority is also introducing fees to cover the cost of monitoring and enforcing biodiversity plans which are a demand on resources.

Other fees and charges will remain the same including filming on DNPA land.

The national park authority is due to bring in an income of £345,783 by the end this financial year from charges which is used to maintain the infrastructure that provides accessibility for the public. 

At a meeting of the authority on Friday one member asked why DNPA was not maximising the income from film companies.

This year two new productions have been filmed on the moor –  Sense and Sensibility and Robert Eggers’ historical thriller ‘Werwulf’ – plus the new Harry Potter TV series.

Filming is charged out at £2,500 plus VAT a day and drama series £500 plus VAT a day if it takes place on DNPA land. It pays for skills and time from officers around communication, culture, heritage and ecology.

Park authority members were told that only 2.4 per cent of the national park was owned by the authority but it was looking at how it could promote it as a film destination with Screen Devon.

Film companies were charged more if they took over facilities like car parks.

Cast and crew benefited the economy by spending money staying in hotels and eating in restaurants

Park authority member Sally Morgan said the benefits were not always financial but what companies left behind. One company filled in all the potholes along an enture road