Scarborough Borough Council leases some land as part of Town Deal
The search for companies and organisations begins following "in principle" approval
Scarborough Council has decided to lease some of its land at Whitby Maritime Training Hub, Whitby Old Town Hall, Scarborough West Pier and other locations as part of the major Town Deal project.
Following “in principle” approval from the council leader, Cllr Steve Siddons on Monday August 15, the search for companies and organisations to lease council land set to form parts of the Town Deal projects will begin.
Scarborough Borough Council was awarded £20.2m of Town Deal funding for Scarborough, and £17.1m of Town Deal funding for Whitby, to deliver a programme of projects in support of “long-term economic growth earlier this year”.
The “in principle” approval of the lease of council land concerns Endeavour Wharf at Whitby Maritime Training Hub, Whitby Old Town Hall, West Pier Properties at Scarborough’s West Pier, the FabLab+ Comet Building, and Pavilion House at Station Gateway, but the properties will not be sold.
A report presented to the council leader on August 15, states: “If approved, the council will seek to identify and select preferred tenants by way of competitive tender and work with the selected tenderers to develop the detailed designs for each of the schemes before entering into agreements for lease and commencing project implementation.
“This is considered critical to ensuring the projects are developed in line with operator and tenant requirements and to help to ensure the sustainability of the resulting schemes.”
Potential lessees would take on management and operation of the properties once constructed and developed, although the land and property will remain in the ownership of the council.
In August the council also allocated a further £600,000 for its railway station “gateway” redevelopment, as well as applying to the Government earlier in the year for an additional £20m of funding to progress the FabLab+ and Pavilion House office projects.
The report also states that the procurement of lessees for the sites will “enable the council to identify the financial implications” such as potential rental return, operating costs, and overheads.
The council says that approval will allow the authority to meet the “contractual deadlines in respect of financial expenditure, procurement, build and the delivery of outputs” as required by the Government.
The agreements for leases will be subject to further approval from the leader, cabinet members, or council.
Information about the leasing of the sites will be published via the council’s digital media channels, through the resident news, and via “traditional media formats”.