Pool set to reopen in £88,000 renovation project

A village swimming pool could reopen as part of £88,000 plans to transform a leisure site.

South Hams District Council's executive committee will on Thursday review proposals for the Meadowbrook Park pool in Dartington, which has been closed since 2022 and is described as being dilapidated.

The council has £88,458.54 available from section 106 funds - paid by developers to invest back into the community when plans for homes are approved - from the firms building the nearby Webbers Yard and Sawmills developments.

Plans for the pool include extending it from 20m (65.6ft) to 25m (82ft), improvements to help wheelchair users and heating it using renewable resources.

A report for the committee concluded: "The project will allow the swimming pool to re-open, and the improvements made will mean that it can be used by a greater number of local people, including those with disabilities, over an extended season."

The pool is part of the Meadowbrook complex which also includes a community-owned brewery, pizzeria, playground, accessible woodland bike track, open space and sports ground.

There has been overwhelming local backing for the project, with 334 letters of support and no objections, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

One supporter wrote: "It will be wonderful to get the pool built and open providing a wonderful facility for the neighbouring schools and the community in general.

"The pool has been sorely missed by all and its reopening will be a wonderful addition to the area."

Another added: "The Meadowbrook complex has become such an an attractive site for families and the pool can only enhance it."

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