RESIDENTS from the rural and farming community will next week have the chance to meet the team behind controversial plans to reintroduce pine martens to the area.

The Two Moors Pine Marten Project intends to see the reintroduction of the animal after they went extinct locally more than 150 years ago.

The two areas identified for their relocation are northern Exmoor and locally, Dartmoor’s Wray/Bovey Valleys and the area to the west of Bovey Tracey.

The Two Moors Partnership comprises the Devon Wildlife Trust, the Woodland Trust, the National Trust, Dartmoor National Park Authority and Exmoor National Park Authority.

Some farmers and poultry breeders have already complained about the threat the plan will pose to their stocks and the wild bird population should it go ahead in the autumn of 2024.

As part of the consultation procedure a survey has just been organised by the University of Exeter to gauge public opinion and can be completed here https://tinyurl.com/2p82p47n

The survey will remain open until 9am on Monday, June 5 and responses are anonymous.

The public meeting will be held next Tuesday, May 23 at the Riverside Community Centre in Station Road, Bovey Tracey.

Starting at 1.30pm, a presentation and question and answer session will commence at 1.45pm, followed by a drop-in session from 3pm -5.15pm.