Every fortnight Kevin writes a "Kev's Column" for the Herald Express and you can read the latest edition (Published on Wednesday 5th July 2023) below:
Zoo
Paignton Zoo celebrated its 100th Birthday at the weekend.
A lot has changed at Paignton Zoo over the decades. Gone are the concrete cages, circus acts and Charlie the Smoking Chimp. Now enclosures are inspired by native habitats, animals are encouraged to display their natural behaviours and Paignton Zoo is at the heart of work to halt species decline.
As well as reflecting on the past, it is great to see the vision coming forward to create a unique facility firmly based on the original vision from 1923 of education and conservation, whilst responding to today’s challenges. Paignton Zoo is a place much loved by many over the last 100 years, future generations also deserve the chance to be inspired by it.
Paignton Picture House
It is great to hear the Paignton Picture House Trust has secured another £285k of Government funding.
This news comes on top of previous Government funding announcements which have supported the work to revitalise this historic gem. These included £1.25m of funding from the Future High Streets Fund and nearly £3m from the Cultural Investment Fund.
This latest funding is great news and a boost for the Picture House Trust. Their work behind the scenes to produce a viable business plan, focused on developing a vision for revitalising this building and making it a cultural hub, has helped end two decades of dereliction and made the building a bright hope for Paignton’s future.
This approach, producing a viable business plan based on sound analysis of the work to be done and realistic projections for the future, is now needed for Oldway and the Pavilion.
Festival Collapse Report
The collapse of the company behind the English Riviera Food and Music Festival left Council taxpayers, residents and local businesses out of pocket.
The report of an inquiry into this fiasco, ordered by the new Conservative Administration of Torbay Council on taking office, was published last week. Several recommendations are made by external auditors about tightening the processes which allowed the grant of £20,000 by Torbay Council to a company with virtually no capital and no experience of running large events successfully.
Speaking with those involved with event management in our bay it was clear many were sceptical about the viability of this event from the off, not least given the big-name acts booked, versus the capacity of the venue and likely revenue from it. It’s backing by the then Lib Dem\Independent Coalition Administration running Torbay Council appearing to give some confidence to buy tickets or book stands to trade.
There are clear lessons to be learned from how this festival was procured and collapsed to ensure such mistakes are not repeated.
Surgery Times
My next surgeries are on: Friday 7th July 10am till 12Noon at Torquay Library, Lymington Road, Torquay TQ1 3DT and Saturday 15th July 11am till 1pm at Preston Baptist Church, Old Torquay Road, Paignton TQ3 2RB.
For an appointment you can either email me at [email protected] or leave a message on 01803 214989, surgeries are for personal queries from residents they would like me to help them with. There are also drop-in sessions from 10am till 1pm, Monday to Friday at 5-7 East St, Torquay, TQ2 5SD where a member of my team is available to assist residents with urgent queries.
