Scarborough Towns Fund For £25m To Be Submitted By End Of Month

The Scarborough bid for up to £25 million in Government money is set to be submitted by the end of this month.

It's coming from the Towns Fund and the Borough Council has already been awarded £750,000 to start projects that are ready to go.

David Kerfoot, Chair of the Scarborough Town Deal Board, said:

"We've been very, very pleased about the wide range of feedback that we've had.

It's very, very important that all these projects, the whole community is involved, so we've taken on board many, many comments taht we've had on social media, by other means and open meetings that we've had.

This could be absolutely life-changing for the town and the areas around Scarborough; because we've got the chance to bid for what will be a large sum of money in a very challenging time where we've got not only the economy to look at, but also this Covid situation.

I think that the amount of effort that people have put into this bid is substantial; and what I want to see is that we drive forward and we get Government approval for our ideas, and we take Scarborough to another level, because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

In Scarborough, schemes earmarked if the £25 million is approved include:

• £6 million for a 16km Local Cycling And Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP that would connect the town centre to Scarborough’s colleges and the Cinder Track.

• £5m for Scarborough Harbour regeneration which would "create a public space which links to Scarborough’s marine heritage, provides retail and workshop space for catering, food and creative industries and preserves the pier as a working harbour with a thriving fishing industry".

• £1.8m for interactive wildlife sculptures and hides.

• £1.4m to create a "FabLab+" in the town centre. FabLab+ is a skills and training centre that helps create new opportunities and skills in areas such as robotics, 3D modelling and printing and audio lab and sound engineering for local people.

• £7m to overhaul the "gateway to Scarborough" from the train station with a new "public realm" and commercial properties.

Money would also be earmarked for projects at the Woodend creative space, a year-long cultural festival and improvements at Scarborough Cricket Ground.