OKEHAMPTON Youth Hostel is to open a new annex, providing 30 to 40 extra beds, and specialised facilities for disabled visitors. The hostel has been granted planning permission to convert Bracken Tor — a large detached house on Camp Road — into an extra residential block The house sits in four acres of wooded grounds, and the hostel plans to use these for teaching moorland skills. Work on the site will begin immediately, with its opening planned for the beginning of July. Centre director John Elson said that when Bracken Tor came onto the market, it represented a perfect opportunity for the hostel to expand: 'It's ideally placed for us. It's close to our main site, and you can walk from its grounds straight onto the moor, without crossing any roads, so it's ideal for children. 'It represents a major investment of around £700,000. We're really trying to pioneer Okehampton as a walking centre, and as a gateway to the moor.' The development will bring 12 new jobs to Okehampton. The youth hostel has also received funding to run its summer camp — pioneered last year — for a second time, and that event will this year be based at Bracken Tor. Mr Elson stressed that he wanted the six-day camp, and the hostel's other day-long activities, to be events for 'local children, as well as kids from miles away'.
