Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Derek Bastiman and the Chair, Councillor Liz Colling

Resolved

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 June 2025, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

All Members are invited to declare at this point any interests they have in items appearing on this agenda, including the nature of those interests.

Councillor Trumper declared an interest in Minute Item 162 as the petition organiser; however, he had not reached a pre-determined position on the matter.

The Chair shared an update on the replacement of the Community Football Pitch at Scarborough Sports Village from the Assistant Director: Culture, Leisure, Archives & Libraries:

‘We continue to work with Wilmott Dixon and a range of specialists in relation to the preferred technical option. You may be aware there have recently been some additional bore holes and soil samples taken. We are now working on analysing the results of these and finalising the solution and the programme for this and we should be able to give more information about the details of this early next month. Yorkshire Water are also currently undertaking works to clear identified blockages in their section of pipework. This is a complex process but I can reassure that the assurances previously given about the timescales remain and we are all working to ensure that football can resume on the pitch as quickly as possible. We will update further once we have finalised the programme for the works.’

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to St John Harris of Democratic Services and supplied the text (contact details below) by midday on Tuesday, 16 September, three working days before the day of the meeting.  Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item.  Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:

·       at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);

·       when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chairman who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

There were six public questions and statements submitted to the committee. Questions 3 to 6 were considered at Minute 161 – Whitby Cliff Lift and access to Whitby West Cliff beach. Vivienne Wright, Dorothy Russell, and Cllr Linda Wild were not present at the meeting.

1.     Cllr Chris Clark

I would like to raise my concern that North Yorkshire Council has lost focus on dealing with Scarborough’s Long Term Empty Homes problem and it is affecting where I live. Can the council tell us how many empty properties there are in our area with the latest information?  The latest publicly easily searchable information is 5 years old.

Reply

Thank you for contacting us about empty homes in the Scarborough and Whitby area. Empty homes complaints are being dealt with on a reactive basis. As I’m sure you are aware, we are still in the process of aligning ways of working across the previous boroughs/districts to provide a consistent approach across North Yorkshire. We have begun a piece of work to establish the current landscape of empty properties across North Yorkshire and looking at how they have been dealt with historically in each area. This piece of work will help us to establish how we will work consistently across the county moving forward. As part of this, we will be looking into how many empty homes there are across the county. Once this piece of work has been concluded we will be able to update you. We anticipate that it will take around 6 months. As part of this, we will establish what information we are able to make publicly available.

Complaints about the condition of empty properties can be sent to privatehousingstandards@northyorks.gov.uk for investigation by the Housing Standards team.

Supplementary question

Councils that are bringing their empty homes back into use have highlighted the roles of two or three empty homes officers. Could I ask what plans North Yorkshire Council may have to introduce this vital role?

Reply

The Corporate Director Community Development is looking at this issue. North Yorkshire Council inherited the housing stocks of three former district councils. Much work is being done to address repair backlogs and empty units but the aim is to return homes to occupation as quickly as possible.

2.     Vivienne Wright

I write on behalf of many Whitby residents.

May I first remind councillors of the stated purpose of area committees: "To improve the quality of life for people in their area by acting as a ‘critical friend’ to policy makers and decision makers, enabling the voice and concerns of the public to be heard and driving improvements in public services."

We want the area committee to adhere to this purpose by arranging meetings in Whitby on a regular basis, or at least when the agenda includes an item regarding an issue in Whitby.  It is not acceptable to shelve it away in the work programme file where it can be conveniently ignored. We do not accept the reasons stated in the minutes.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 158.

Mayor Skaith provided an overview to the committee of the work of the Combined Authority and how it benefited the constituency area whilst addressing a series of pre-submitted questions by the committee. Mr Skaith echoed the MP’s gratitude to the firefighters, council, farmers and other volunteers involved in containing the Langdale Moor fire. Although combined authorities were not part of the Local Resilience Forum, he and his Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime, Jo Coles would be involved in the recovery phase, making sure any learnings were identified. Introducing his work, he noted the unique rural and coastal nature of York and North Yorkshire, which provided the opportunity to showcase how the Combined Authority could deliver the investments and improvements that places like Scarborough, Whitby and other coastal towns needed. He referred to his joint work with the South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire Mayors to attract rail investment into the region. Mr Skaith summed up his chief priority for the region to support the creation of healthy, thriving communities where people were resilient, connected to opportunities and living in warm, affordable homes. The Mayoral Investment Fund would unlock some £540m over the next 30 years including the £10m High Street Fund already launched. Scarborough was already benefiting from this investment through the Combined Authority’s work with the Stephen Joseph Theatre and local shop owners. Mr Skaith also referred to the investment to drive innovation in adult skills and learning, and to help businesses grow and export their products. The region was one of the first places in the country to take part in a pilot on franchising rural bus services. Both the £1.3m Community Building Fund and the Net Zero Fund had already benefited buildings in the constituency area. Some other initiatives were the new Strategic Place Partnership with Homes England to scale up existing collaborative working and unlock significant housing and regeneration plans for the region, the ten year Growth Plan, the first Police and Crime and Fire and Rescue Plans, significant early intervention and prevention work to tackle crime, the first Local Transport Plan and the record £50m investment in adult learning and skills to help skill young people aligned to the needs of local industry. Turning to the pre-submitted questions, Mayor Skaith referred to:

• The work to drive investment in Seamer and other train stations and to improve connectivity between Scarborough and York through providing two trains an hour
• Working with North Yorkshire Council and the new Scarborough Neighbourhood Board to support the development of the Brunswick Centre as part of the wider redevelopment of the town centre
• Working with Schneider Electric to use their recent investment to promote the area to other investors
• Increasing opportunities around tourism through the new Local Visitor Enterprise Partnership which would meet for the first time the following week
• After providing initial funding for the boat hoist at Scarborough Harbour, working with North Yorkshire Council to see how that plan could be progressed whilst taking into account the complexities around  ...  view the full minutes text for item 159.

Ms Hume provided an overview to the committee of some of her areas of work, concerns and priorities.  She was pleased to report that her fully staffed constituency office was now open on Northway, Scarborough and in the last six months over 4000 cases had been opened. During the same period Ms Hume had held eight advice surgeries in Scarborough, Whitby and the villages and public meetings on the New Homes Accelerator development in Cayton, heather burning, and the drilling proposals by Europa Oil and Gas in Burniston.

Ms Hume then referred to Langdale Moor Fire when as the local MP she was called upon to assist and provide information to worried constituents. She praised the efforts of the council, fire service, farmers, gamekeepers, landowners and other volunteers in containing the blaze, but as a lesson learned, felt a dedicated phone line for the public should have been provided as she had suggested. She was also concerned about the impact on public health of the fire because of dangerous airborne particulates, whilst noting the council’s advice to close doors and windows in affected areas. Further, Ms Hume would be pursuing with the Government whether this incident was the trigger for a national resilience response because of the proximity to the fire of the critical military facility at RAF Fylingdales. She welcomed the local GoFundMe page which had raised about £75,000 for people affected by the incident but queried how the Government should assist farmers through the emergency funding package proposed. Ms Hume applauded the recent additional restrictions placed on heather burning by the Government (the new maximum height of heather of 30cm). In respect of the proppant squeeze planning application in Burniston, she would be holding another public meeting on this matter to gauge constituents’ views and would continue to press the Government to include this form of mining in the fracking moratorium. Finally, Ms Hume was pleased to report that her campaign to get cellular data smart hubs rolled out in the constituency had been successful thanks to a change in government licences.

Following this introduction, the issues raised by elected members and discussed with the MP included:

• That farmers should not be penalised for using restricted red diesel fuel when they were mobilised to contain the Langdale Moor fire
• The three main priorities for the constituency of investment, transport links and creating opportunities for young people
• The £20m Scarborough Plan for Neighbourhoods
• Protecting local public green spaces such as allotments
• The importance of brownfield development and providing the necessary infrastructure to help meet the Government’s housing targets
• Dualling the A64
• The need for the Combined Authority to have a dedicated coastal officer
• Concerns at the inadequacy of the proposed repairs to Scarborough West Pier
• Delays in the implementation of a new planning change of use class for holiday lets

The Chair thanked Alison Hume MP for her attendance and her responses to members’ questions.

TO FOLLOW

Considered a report of the Corporate Director of Environment which set out the findings of a public consultation into the Whitby Cliff lift replacement bus service and outlined the options to be presented to Executive for the future of the Whitby Cliff Lift for the Area Committee’s comments.

The questions / statements of Dorothy Russell, Cllr Linda Wild, Cllr Sandra Turner and Elizabeth Mulheran were presented to the committee and replies given as appropriate (see Minute 158 above).

Introducing the report, the Harbours and Coastal Infrastructure Head, Chris Bourne reminded the meeting that the Cliff Lift had been closed since April 2022 when corrosion was discovered in its structure. Since the closure the borough and then unitary council had run a free subsidised bus service over the summer to replace the lift. A steady increase in water ingress had caused increasing corrosion of the lift structure. This deterioration had led the council to commission a report by Align Property Services to undertake a feasibility assessment to determine long-term options that would effectively address the lift’s growing maintenance needs while ensuring the continued safety and serviceability of the lift and tunnel structures.  The Align report complemented a 2020 Scarborough Borough Council report which included a preventative maintenance schedule to bring the lift back into working order and a report by Anglo American plc following their inspection of the structure in the summer. The findings were largely the same across the three reports. All agreed that the lift could be repaired but there was a difference of view on the source and extent of the water ingress. A factor to be considered was that the two reports from Scarborough Borough Council and Align Property Services were prepared in January, and the report by Anglo American was prepared in June. The season therefore may have contributed to the extent of the water ingress. All the surveys recommended that to address the water ingress problem, further monitoring and surveys were required to take account of seasonal variations and other factors. Members were further advised that there was little point in repairing the lift without tackling the water ingress issue. The final report to the Executive would include a detailed Equalities Impact Assessment to ensure the council complied with its public sector equality duty.

Turning to the next item on the agenda (Receipt of petition in support of the preservation of Whitby Cliff Lift) which was considered concurrently, Councillor Trumper introduced the following petition:

‘Whitby Cliff Lift is a critical asset for our beloved town, a lifeline for many residents and visitors alike. It stands as an important bridge, allowing individuals, particularly those with disabilities, to access the beautiful beach facilities that are otherwise challenging to reach. The lift symbolises inclusivity and accessibility, ensuring that everyone, regardless of physical ability, can enjoy the stunning coastline of Whitby.

This iconic structure has served our community for decades, but now faces potential closure due to funding constraints and a lack of maintenance. Its existence is not just  ...  view the full minutes text for item 161.

TO FOLLOW

See Minute 161 above.

Considered a presentation by Matt Hewison, Head of Development Active North Yorkshire which outlined progress with the preparation of the Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS), Built Sports Facilities Strategy (BSFS) and Leisure Investment Strategy. Members were advised that the PPS and BSFS provided a strategic framework to ensure that the provision of outdoor sports pitches and indoor built facilities met the needs of residents (both existing and future) and visitors to the county. The exercise provided a valuable audit of pitches and facilities as well as gauging the activity and aspirations of local teams and clubs. Preparation followed a robust methodology by Sport England which was involved throughout the process along with national governing bodies of sports. Nationally renowned management consultants Knight, Kavanagh and Page had been commissioned in August to produce the two new strategies. The Leisure Investment Strategy set the strategic context for the investment of more than £40m to improve and modernise leisure centres across the county. Four centres including Whitby Leisure Centre would share £36m to become flagship Active Wellbeing Hubs.

In reply to their questions and comments, members were advised that:

·       In respect of the cessation of Scarborough and District Minor Football League, because of a lack of structure in most of the age groups the league took the positive decision to join York Junior Football League. Active North Yorkshire, in partnership with the North Riding County FA are trying to address this issue by the recruitment of a Football Development Officer for the Scarborough area. There may also be an opportunity to collaborate with the York Junior Football League on this development.

·       The decision on the future investment of Whitby Leisure Centre was very positive and would help the site to provide a wellbeing hub and further its participation offer.

·       In respect of the future of the Hawkes Health leisure facility on the proposed site of the new Scalby School, Active North Yorkshire promoted the community use of school facilities. Mr Hewison was happy to explore the options with Hawkes Health.

Resolved that the presentation be received.

Considered the latest draft of the committee’s work programme for 2025-26. 

Following discussion, the Chair confirmed the following topics for consideration by the committee (to be discussed at the next mid cycle briefing):

• Local housing update – empty homes, Air BnBs, HMOs, second homes and affordable housing
• Sea bathing water quality update following Bathing Water Summit to be held in October

Resolved that the work programme be noted.

Any other items which the Chair agrees should be considered as a matter of urgency because of special circumstances.

There was no urgent business.

Friday, 28 November 2025 at 10.00am.

28 November 2025