Living Coasts (Closed) Living Coasts closed permanently

The Hedgehog said:
Could one of us Zoochatters email or message the Wild Planet Trust? I'm thinking that that we could ask what Aquarium they are referring to when they say that they have received interest that would keep it as an animal attraction? In my opinion there is no harm in politely asking the question.
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The Trust couldn't answer because, as the article plainly states, this statement came from the Council.
 
I’ll slightly change my post. Could I contact Torbay City Council and ask them who is interested in purchasing Living Coast’s?
 
The Hedgehog said:
I’ll slightly change my post. Could I contact Torbay City Council and ask them who is interested in purchasing Living Coast’s?
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The refusal to divulge such confidential information would be the same no matter who you contacted.
 
The Hedgehog said:
I’ll slightly change my post. Could I contact Torbay City Council and ask them who is interested in purchasing Living Coast’s?
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Yes - under the 'Freedom of Information Act' the Council is obliged to had over such information. How quickly they do so and how much of a fight you will have, is quite another matter. From what I can see, this site has had a wide range of very different uses over the years - which presumably means none of them has manged to make a 'go-of-it' long term..?
If the Whitley Trust still owns 108 years of lease, that must be quite a valuable asset, subject to planning permission for any change of use.
 
Andrew Swales said:
Mmmm.... personally I agree with you, although I've never had any direct experience with them - but I think we are in the minority?
They are still 'on the list', but so far down it as to be irrelevant into the medium term. We have made some major investments over the past few years, and consolidation was always to be the next 'phase', even before it was forced on us. That's not to say there wont be any more nice arrivals, and the completion and conversion of existing jobs - but anything big is now off the cards, unless a big donor comes forward with ring-fenced funds for a specific project..


I agree that the tone was unpleasant, but the basis does have something behind it. Newquay has a long history, and has been turned around before. It and (it's town) are facing serious challenges now. I have never visited ( I did go to Bird Paradise and Padstow, which gives you a clue to the timing of my last visit to Cornwall), but reports from everyone who has been to Newquay have been glowing.
In the few days and weeks that zoos have been open we are beginning to see a split - those close enough to population centres for short personal visits made by private car by a public with a pent-up desire to 'get out, somewhere, almost anywhere' - and those dependent on large numbers of in-bound seasonal holidaymakers, because they are situated in a 'tourist' area, or on an island.
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I very much regret I never visited Padstow -- silly of me, as I get the impression it was lovely. I know Paradise Park fairly well -- they do some wonderful stuff. Newquay has a seriously good bird section with an excellent breeding record, the only Hoffmann's Sloths in the UK (one of them home bred), long term breeding succes with Owston's Civets, breeding Grey Slender Loris, Black Wildebeest, and a little gem of a tropical house with lovely habitat displays and some great breeding successes including Black Tree Monitor.
 
Andrew Swales said:
A picture of Padstow's entrance comes up at -
GARDEN WALLS BETWEEN FENTONLUNA LANE AND HIGH STREET TO WEST OF NO 7 AND EAST OF THE ZOOLOGICAL BIRD GARDENS GARDEN WALLS BETWEEN HIGH STREET AND FENTONLUNA LANE TO EAST OF ZOOLOGICAL BIRD GARDENS, Padstow - 1289831 | Historic England
due to its boundary wall on Fentonluna Lane being 'listed' - and photographed.
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I visited once. I remember a wall fronting the road, I thought it was the main road out of Padstow, but nothing much else. I was in Padstow again recently and meant to go and try to find the site again but didn't get the chance.
 
Pertinax said:
I visited once. I remember a wall fronting the road, I thought it was the main road out of Padstow, but nothing much else. I was in Padstow again recently and meant to go and try to find the site again but didn't get the chance.
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Yes - it's address was certainly 'Fentonluna Lane' which fits with the sign on the listed wall as above, and I remember it being set in a walled garden, even if I don't recall anything else! This little road shows clearly on Google Maps panoramic/cursor system and there appears to be some amount of new housing behind the wall, presumably on its site. The sign shows its logo as a Scarlet Ibis, which I do recall, now my memory is jogged..

(maybe these last few posts could be moved to a 'Closed Zoos' - Padstow thread?)
 
Re. Living Coasts - I took my girls along on their bikes today to say farewell to the Penguins, Incas & the Cormorants from the road above. It was sad. One of my girls is 10 & the other 5 years old. All the way home they were busy making plans for what they would do if we won the lottery. I didn’t say anything, I just listened....., “we could put a glass bubble roof on it like Eden Project and then they could make it mangrove jungle up & down daddy” ...”Daddy..., we could keep the net where the puffins are and have flying foxes like we saw in the Seychelles and we could join the seal and penguin pools together”. It went on an on, then later, their Grandad suggested moving the Pavillion (of Agatha Christie fame?) brick by brick and re-building it on Living Coasts site. Then before dinner it was drawings of ‘Penguin World’ and ‘Oz-land’ - with sketches of platypus, echidna, koala etc.... It was quite a day & went from being sad to one of fantasy sketching based on some magical lottery win!
 
Rajang21 said:
Without being rude to @TriUK, I’m sure they know exactly the same as the rest of us do about the future of Living Coasts’ site, which is nothing.
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Although as has been previously stated, the council’s preferred way forward is to keep it as an animal attraction. So we don’t know much but we know more than nothing:


“A spokesperson for Torbay Council said: “The partnership which runs Torbay Council is saddened with the demise of Living Coasts. We continue to work closely with the Wild Planet Trust that manages Paignton Zoo to ensure that their core offer of conservation work and local attraction has long term viability. The Trust has a 125 year lease on this site and we are currently in negotiations with them.

“Torbay Council has received a good number of expressions of interest in the Living Coasts site, from continuing its current use as a wildlife centre, using the restaurant as a stand-alone offer, to the complete redevelopment as the site. With the zoo, we plan to test the viability of expressions of interest so that it can continue its current or similar use. This is our preferred way forward and we will not actively be seeking a complete redevelopment of this site unless the preferred proposals are not possible.”
 
Andrew Swales said:
Yes - under the 'Freedom of Information Act' the Council is obliged to had over such information. How quickly they do so and how much of a fight you will have, is quite another matter. From what I can see, this site has had a wide range of very different uses over the years - which presumably means none of them has manged to make a 'go-of-it' long term..?
If the Whitley Trust still owns 108 years of lease, that must be quite a valuable asset, subject to planning permission for any change of use.
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If the UK FOI Act is anything like FOI in comparable countries such as Australia, commercial sensitivity is grounds to refuse the request.
 
CGSwans said:
If the UK FOI Act is anything like FOI in comparable countries such as Australia, commercial sensitivity is grounds to refuse the request.
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Technically, yes. But in practice the supply of services surrounding, and the administration of the FoIA has been 'farmed out' from the LAs to private companies, who are presumably on some kind of bonus system. Getting them to define what exactly 'commercial sensitivity' is, and acting on it would ultimately depend the persistence of the the company being 'investigated' and the dept of its pockets. Another area where the theoretical situation is very different from the practical one...
 
Andrew Swales said:
Technically, yes. But in practice the supply of services surrounding, and the administration of the FoIA has been 'farmed out' from the LAs to private companies, who are presumably on some kind of bonus system. Getting them to define what exactly 'commercial sensitivity' is, and acting on it would ultimately depend the persistence of the the company being 'investigated' and the dept of its pockets. Another area where the theoretical situation is very different from the practical one...
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Hmm. It only took five minutes googling to find out that Torbay Council *does* have an information governance team, and the manager's name is Jo (surname omitted because it's not really the point). I suspect they probably know *just* enough about FoIA compliance to bat away Zoochat's collective interest in who is trying to buy Living Coasts.
 
Nisha said:
The African Penguin colony have all moved to Pairi Daiza. There are photos of them on Pairi's Facebook page in their new exhibit
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It says there were 66 of them ! They have joined(?) or are adjacent to, the existing penguin display which is currently one of PD's more underwhelming ones, just a small corner of the lake shore really. But it does say 'for now they make their home' indicating there will be an upgrade in the pipeline. Maybe a move to the new 'Land of the Cold' exhibits ? (even if they are South African...)
 
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