PLANS to extend the Gidleigh Park Hotel at Chagford will be discussed again next month by Dartmoor National Park Authority because of local concerns over an increase in traffic. The proposal to create four new bedrooms, extend the dining and kitchen area and provide 14 rooms for staff has been supported by authority members subject to comments from Gidleigh Parish Meeting. But parish meeting members are against the extension scheme, saying additional traffic generated would put too much pressure on country lanes. Parish clerk John Milton said the whole issue had been thwarted by non-communication from both the hotel and the park authority. ?A meeting was held with all the people who would benefit from this expansion, but at no time has there been any communication with the people who would be adversely affected, even though I was told there would be,? said Mr Milton. He said Dartmoor National Park Authority had supported the plans, despite a petition signed by all the residents of Holy Street Lane who live on the approach to the prestigious hotel: ?The members should be looking after the interests of the local community but it appears that the authority is only interested in commerce and if so why does it exist? ?Increasing the hotel business by two thirds when the traffic level on this narrow lane is already unacceptable is lunatic.? The county environment director estimated the proposal would increase the daily flow of traffic associated with the hotel by 60% at the peak time of the year, and any increase would be ?at the least, undesirable?, given that it primarily consisted of a single track carriageway with isolated opportunities to pass. But national park authority member John Shears from Chagford said he felt the plans were okay: ?It?s a good design and, yes, the residents of Holy Street Lane had a good point, but I think in the end we made a fair decision after spending one and a half hours at a site meeting. ?It?s about traffic management and that was our concern ? the heavy vehicles will use a back entrance which takes anything over seven and a half tonnes out of Chagford town, and in that case I do not see much change from what we have now.? Gidleigh Park owners said the impact of the additional traffic would be ?negligible?. They stated that with the additional employees the total staff wages were likely to be in excess of £750,000, much of which would be spent in the local community.