The North Yorkshire Council
Assistant Director Resources – Community Development
31 October 2024
Report of the Corporate Director for Community Development
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 That the Assistant Director Resources authorises the acceptance of the grant in the sum of £100,000 from York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority Gainshare Funding for feasibility studies in Scarborough Town Centre.
2.0 SUMMARY
2.1 Scarborough Town Centre has two on-going projects, and we have some gainshare funding approved by the YNYCA to help us deliver the feasibility for each of them.
3.0 BACKGROUND
3.1 Scarborough Town Centre: Re-development of the Argos Site and Brunswick Centre
3.2 Purpose: The re-development of both sites is catalyst for the revitalisation of Scarborough Town centre. It has been recognised in both the Council Plan and Scarborough Blueprint, that high streets need to become places where there is a diverse range of activity including traditional retail, hospitality and entertainment, residential living, the provision of public services and; to be great places to dwell, meet and spend time within high quality public space. Recent public and stakeholder consultation has shown support for both schemes
3.3 Argos Site: Re-developing the Argos site will transform an underused and unattractive site, improve the public realm and generate additional footfall into the marketplace and other retail shops in the area. It will improve the experience of the walked route from the station to shore, thus stimulating economic growth within the town, whilst contributing to a trail of vibrant places.
3.4 The Argos site in its current condition, hinders the view of the marketplace, impacts the connection between the town centre and the shore and creates a perception of the poor quality of built environment in the town. The area also issues with anti-social behaviour further hindering economic activity.
3.5 The funding will be used to explore opportunities through detailed site options appraisal and feasibility work, will ascertain the best option for the redevelopment of the site and surrounding area. It will also allow for the mitigation of issues that have restricted activity on this site in the past.
3.6 Brunswick Centre (Scarborough Cinema): One of the key strategic investments identified was to facilitate the creation of a mixed-use leisure and entertainment venue within the town centre by redeveloping the underutilised Brunswick Centre into a multiscreen cinema and complimentary leisure, food and beverage outlets.
3.7 This intervention is part of the vision to drive economic growth into the town centre by creating a trail of vibrant spaces and places from station to shore which in turn will diversify the town centre user demographic (to better cater for residents and families), increase visitor numbers (particularly those from the surrounding areas who travel elsewhere for family entertainment) and act as a catalyst for private sector investment in new enterprise that will cluster around such a development.
3.8 The funding will contribute towards the background studies to bring the opportunity forward.
4.0 ACCEPTANCE OF GRANT FUNDING
4.1 £100,000 Gainshare Development Fund broken down into £50,000 Argos Site Development & £50,000 Brunswick Centre Development.
4.2 Brunswick will be matched with £300k from NYC capital programme (Approved by Exec).
5.0 CONTRIBUTION TO COUNCIL PRIORITIES
5.1 The North Yorkshire Council Plan states the Council’s commitment to the regeneration of towns including Scarborough: “Our priorities for the next four years are...To invest in land, buildings and sustainable infrastructure to support economic growth” & “To attract and retain young people and working age adults to live and work in North Yorkshire” Both of these projects align with each of these aims.
5.2 The project aligns to five parts of the emerging YNY Economic Framework ‘great places for all’.
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Productive & Innovative Economy |
Increasing Productivity of core sectors These two schemes will have a significant impact on the potential for productivity in the retail, leisure and cultural sectors in Scarborough |
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Culture & Heritage |
Strengthen our
cultural assets |
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Housing |
Increase affordable and sustainable housing The Argos site will be explored for its housing potential. |
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Global Economy |
Attract Inward Investment Both sites have the potential to bring new businesses and entrepreneurs to the town. |
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Thriving Workforce |
Strong Career & Skills Pathways for all By creating new, high quality, space for businesses, we create opportunities for creating less seasonal employment. |
5.3 North Yorkshire Destination Management Plan
The Vision:
· Create a vibrant, thriving, year-round visitor destination, offering sustainable growth for the visitor economy coupled with significant opportunities to improve the current offer and develop new, meaningful experiences, events and products
The Aspiration:
· Have a healthy and performing visitor economy with increased domestic visitor spend, day visits converting to visitors staying longer and exploring more
6.0 ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED
6.1 Both of these are the feasibility studies. They will allow us to understand and consider the options.
7.0 IMPACT ON OTHER SERVICES/ORGANISATIONS
7.1 Both sites have project groups, involving EDRTS, Property, Legal, Finance, Planning, Culture and Housing.
8.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
8.1 There is no commitment on either scheme beyond the feasibility and background studies being undertaken. Finance have been involved from the start on each project to advise regarding grant procedures. Costing, valuations and financial analysis have been completed by external partners and reviewed within the Project team,
9.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
9.1 Legal have been involved in each project through-out, and while both have risks to be aware of, neither is at a stage where there are long term legal implications. The grant has no legal implications.
10.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
10.1 This grant has no equalities implications and will be reassessed after the feasibility study has returned it findings.
11.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS
11.1 This grant has no climate change implications and will be reassessed after the feasibility study has returned it findings.
12.0 POLICY IMPLICATIONS
12.1 This grant could lead to the delivery of some aspects of our housing targets, and to the delivery of two named schemes in the economic strategy. But we cannot know without doing the feasibility first.
13.0 RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
13.1 The grant requires no match funding, and the feasibility is undertaken to understand the risks of specific options. Due to the locally sensitive nature of these schemes in prominent locations – both of which have a significant history of media and political sensitivity - they present a greater risk to our reputation if we do nothing, than if we investigate what can be done.
14.0 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
14.1 Both the Brunswick and Argos sites have significant potential to impact the form, function and perception of Scarborough town centre. They are big opportunities to address some of the most significant regeneration issues in the town. Without this funding, we would need to rely on internal funding, and the timescales for agreeing this will not match-up with the needs of the assets and market.
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15.0 |
RECOMMENDATION
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i) That the Assistant Director Resources authorises the acceptance of the grant of £100,000 from York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority Gainshare Funding for feasibility studies in Scarborough Town Centre.
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APPENDICES:
Appendix A – Report to capital board for Argos & report to exec for Brunswick
Nic Harne
Corporate Director – Communities
County Hall
Northallerton
30/10/24
Report Author – Joe Russell
Presenter of Report – Joe Russell
Appendix
Argos: 241015_ Agros feas Growth and Regen Board_V1.docx
Brunswick:
The PID approved by Growth and Regeneration Capital Board: Scarborough Cinema PID
This was subsequently approved by the capital Board (Management Board) and then by Executive on 20 August 2024.
Executive Report: Agenda for Executive on Tuesday, 20th August, 2024, 11.00 am | North Yorkshire Council Agenda Item 516.