The trustees behind Dartmouth's £2.4 million dream swimming pool are planning talks with the Tone Leisure 'opposition' which could include compensation claims.

The trustees will be meeting in the next week or so with the leisure company which runs South Hams Council's leisure complexes at Totnes, Kingsbridge and Ivybridge.

Tone Leisure runs swimming pools at Kingsbridge and Ivybridge for the district council as well as the Dartmouth leisure centre next to which the trustees plan to build the new community pool. One of the issues likely to be discussed will be the district council condition that the trust could have to pay compensation to Tone for any impact the new pool could have on the existing businesses.

Trustee Andy Borthwick confirmed that the meeting with Tone Leisure was being arranged and that it would involve 'wide ranging' talks.

And he said that he was confident that the talks with Tone would sort out any problems – including any to do with compensation.

It was revealed earlier this year that part of South Hams Council agreement to release the land for the pool site next to the Dartmouth Leisure Centre included a condition that the pool trust would have to meet all the costs arising from a building agreement are met by the trust – including 'all compensation due to Tone Leisure as a consequence of the construction of the DDIPT indoor pool'.

Mr Borthwick said he was not aware that Tone had ever raised any issue of compensation as he added: 'We have yet to be officially told by anyone and there is not evidence to suggest – that Tone has formally presented to the trust or South Hams Council that there is compensation required.'

And he pointed out that the provision of a new pool at the Townstal site was likely to actually increase Tone's income at the leisure centre.

The meeting comes just as the Dartmouth and District Indoor Pool trust has all but hammered out an agreement with the Lidl supermarket bosses over a land arrangement.

The supermarket had been claiming a no build covenant on a 15 meter strip of land around the store which would have impacted on where the trustee aim to site the pool.

But after six months of talks the problem appears to have been sorted out.

Although the trustees have won outline planning permission for the pool project they have yet to commission architects to draw up the detailed plans for the project and submit them to South Hams Council's planning department.

The trustees are hoping that if all goes well the construction work on the project could go ahead some time next year.