BREAKING NEWS: planning application for Scarborough Argos development rejected
Councillors have been meeting to discuss the proposals today.
Last updated 9th Dec 2021
Planning permission for a £22 million development of part of Scarborough town centre has been rejected.
A motion was proposed to reject the plans, with it being described as of a "overbearing size and a poor design".
There have been dozens of objections to the council's plans to demolish the former Argos building on Newborough - and replace it with accommodation for NHS workers and students.
In 2019, the authority voted to replace the building with a scheme drawn up in collaboration with Coventry University Scarborough and the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which runs services at Scarborough Hospital.
Today's meeting was temporarily halted during proceedings when a member of the public voiced their objections, but resumed after a delay and a caution that further outbursts would result in the meeting being cleared.
The motion to support the project was rejected after a vote, and a second motion proposed by Councillor Phil Trumper to formally reject the plans passed.
The resolution is therefore to refuse planning permission due to an "overbearing size and poor design".
Separate plans for an open area next to Argos and opposite the market were later approved at the same meeting.