THE YHA is planning to turn a quiet hostel in the middle of Dartmoor into a motel in a scheme that will blight an historic building it has been claimed.

The view was expressed this week by the Dartmoor Preservation Association after the Y H A lodged plans with the Dartmoor National Park Authority to extend its Bellever hostel into nearby barns.

The YHA say its plans will return the barns to their former glory and keep the hostel apace of modern times, but John Bainbridge, chief executive of the DPA, said the alterations would ruin the buildings and he criticised the YHA for trying to attract motorised tourists at the expense of 'genuine walkers, riders and cyclists'.

'The barns at Bellever are of considerable interest as examples of high Dartmoor vernacular architecture,' he said.

'These proposed alterations are very severe and would compromise the historical integrity of the Bellever barns.'

Mr Bainbridge said the proposed extensions would turn this once fairly simple hostel into something resembling a motel, encouraging far more traffic onto narrow roads with limited parking.

'We believe further commercialisation of Bellever will destroy the very "peace and quiet" that people come to this part of the Dart Valley for.'

Mr Bainbridge said the place should remain as it is for the benefit of local people and the walkers and horse riders who seek out this particular corner of Dartmoor.

The DPA called for the barns to be returned to agricultural use and for the YHA to abandon its 'extravagant improvement' schemes and spend its money on keeping Bellever open all year round for the 'true Dartmoor walkers'.

Roger Gaffney, the YHA's director for the English regions, said: 'The barns have been in use for many years by the Forestry Commission, with one part rented to us and one to a farmer. The Forestry Commission altered the buildings drastically and really spoilt the look of the barns. We are planning to put back what was originally there.'

Mr Gaffney said the YHA had to 'live in the real world'.

'We have moved on. We are trying to remain relevant. People do come by car for their holidays.

'We do encourage the use of public transport as much as we can — the ethos of the YHA hasn't changed — and we encourage them to leave their cars and take to their feet or bikes once they're here.

'What has changed is that more and more people have cars and use them to visit places they want to see.'

Mr Gaffney said they had plans to keep the hostel open 12 months a year.

'One of the problems is that Bellever is too small to justify the cost of running it through the winter. This (scheme) will generate more income and help us make the place more available to those who want to enjoy the moor.'

The application is expected to go before DNPA planning committee on August 3.