Members of the Dartmouth Indoor Pool Trust and its Steering group, meeting with local councillors at the site of the proposed new indoor pool at the Norton Leisure Centre.

Sir Geoffrey Newman the chairman of the groups said he would like to congratulate Cllr Brazil and Cllr Hawkins for securing the provisional Devon County Council grant of £1.5m towards the construction of a new heated indoor swimming pool in Dartmouth.

This grant is towards a £2.89m construction design which is now completed and which we can now discuss in detail. The grant is also dependant and on the other construction costs being in place and we can now discuss these with South Hams District Council, the Town Council and outside Sporting organisations

A sustainable pool business plan has also been completed by the Trust's Steering Group supported by interim grants from the 3 councils and the Dartmouth and District MCTI , and this is for an operating budget of £285,000 per annum

The Dartmouth and District Indoor Pool Trust is now legally constituted and the 6 trustees and their officers will meet regularly to oversee the progress of the project with a view to starting construction in 2009.  Click here for more details.

Zoo keepers are taking on the mammoth task of counting each and every animal in their collections for a new year stock-take. The headcount is completed each January. Zoos keep detailed records of every animal birth, death, arrival and departure. Staff at Paignton Zoo have nearly 2,000 heads to count, including nearly 450 mammals of 66 different species, over 1,000 birds of nearly 150 species, 268 reptiles, 71 amphibians and 61 blind cave fish that live in Reptile Tropics.

Paignton Zoo spokesperson Phil Knowling said: “Some keepers have their work cut out at this time of year. It’s easier to count our two elephants than it is to count our hundreds of Brazilian giant cockroaches!” Orang utans, saltwater, Nile and Cuban crocodiles and two female giraffes are just some of the additions to the inventory at Paignton Zoo this year.

Meanwhile, staff at Living Coasts have scores of new species to count in the new Mangroves exhibit, ranging from poisonous rays, horseshoe crabs and puffer fish to Mudskippers, fiddler crabs and four-eyed fish. At the last count Torquay’s coastal zoo had nearly 400 individuals of 22 species. Marine biologist Jodie Peers said: “The crabs are hard to count – they don’t stand still very long!” Paignton Zoo Curator of Birds Jo Gregson said: “We get as many keepers out in the grounds as possible and count at the same time. We do it on several occasions – it takes about four weeks, from December onwards.”

Paignton Zoo Environmental Park is a registered charity. For more information click here or ring (01803) 697500

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• Farmers Market this Saturday in The Old Market
   

Why not come and visit Dartmouth?
 

• Self catering accommodation click here
   
• Dartmouth B and B  click here
   
• Dartmouth Hotels click here
   
• A Tourist Guide to Dartmouth click here

The inner harbour in August, known as The Boatfloat