CONTROVERSIAL plans to begin developing Burrator Reservoir were announced this week — and opposition is already mounting from people who claim it is a 'thinly veiled' campaign to commercialise the area.

South West Water has applied to Dartmoor National Park Authority for permission to convert the historic 105-year-old Burrator Lodge into a café and ranger's office.

The company has also re-applied to demolish an historic iron shed to make way for a new car park.

The plans are seen by many as the opening salvo in a second attempt at commercialise the area, an ambition thwarted three years ago by huge opposition.

SWW maintains it has a statutory duty to make as much of its land as possible available to the public. It wants to provide facilities for the 1.2-million visitors a year to Burrator, but denies there is a plan to bring about full-scale commercialisation.

But John Bainbridge, chairman of Dartmoor Preservation Association, said: 'We are sure this is only the start of what they want to do in the area — Burrator is an ecologically sensitive and very attractive part of the Dartmoor National Park.

'It is not a potential site for a theme park and SWW should not treat it as such. Increased visitor facilities are alien to this part of Dartmoor, which should be reserved for quiet recreation.'

Dartmoor Society chairman Tom Greeves said they warned what would happen when SWW was granted permission to build a forestry shed in March.

'Far from being an innocent application, the new shed was the first stage in a strategy of commercialising Burrator reservoir,' he claimed.

Dr Greeves said the current proposals would radically, and detrimentally, change the character of Burrator.

'The outcome of the present application will be a real test of both SWW's and the National Park's environmental credibility in terms of both natural beauty and cultural heritage and we hope there will be massive opposition towards it as there was in 1996,' he said.

Graham Ledger, chairman of Friends of Burrator, formerly Action To Protect Dartmoor, said the application was a 'thinly veiled' proposal to begin commercialisation of what he described as an unspoilt and beautiful part of Dartmoor.

He said the new forestry building bore no resemblance to a tractor shed and was clearly part of the scheme: 'It is a devastating eyesore right on the edge of the road and in full view of the lake.'

Mr Ledger has organised a public meeting at Meavy Village Hall next Thursday, December 9, 7pm to 9pm. Burrator Parish Council planning committee will meet at 9.15pm to discuss the application.

The controversy began in 1996 when South West Water, Dartmoor National Park and Devon County Council drafted plans that local people claimed would turn Burrator into a 'tourist honey pot'.

These included conversion of the lodge, road closures around the reservoir, introduction of parking charges, traffic calming in Dousland, cheap buses from Plymouth and a network of trails for walking and bike riding.

There was considerable opposition and the plans were rejected.

The furore resurfacedlast September when SWW announced its intention to develop the lodge and increase recreational use of Burrator.

The company's first move was an application to demolish the 100-year-old corrugated iron store and replace it with a new 'forestry shed'.

DNPA decided SWW could build a new shed but could not demolish the historic building, a decision that satisfied nobody.

The new proposals to convert Burrator Lodge include creating a refreshment area, environmental interpretation room and a ranger's office. The plans include building an entrance porch, external staircase and toilet block.

The iron store would be replaced by a 52-space car park.