Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have delivered notice (to include the text of the question/statement) to Will Baines of Legal and Democratic Services (contact details below) no later than midday on Monday 16th January 2023. 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.
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Minutes:
Question from Andy Hayes
I am a Director of Oliver’s Mount Racing Ltd. that holds the licence with Scarborough Borough Council to hold national level motorcycle race events at The Oliver’s Mount race circuit in Scarborough. We host a number of events each year, and when all is going well, Oliver’s Mount is estimated to bring tourism revenue of c. £4m per annum into the local area, and also provides direct annual revenue to the local authority in the region of £80k - £100k.
Oliver’s Mount uses Jackson’s Lane as the sole route for public vehicular entry and egress once events are running and other entrances are closed off. Events will not be financially viable should Jackson’s Lane be inaccessible over an event weekend.
Jackson’s Lane is a publicly adopted road (reference U563/4/30) (coordinates X: 504080 Y: 485931). This road has been in a state of disrepair for at least 5 years now and NYCC Highways have permitted Oliver’s Mount, amongst others, to use the road in a 1-way, traffic-controlled manner for events, but this causes quite a lot of traffic disruption and is expensive to resource and undoubtedly puts some customers off from coming to Oliver’s Mount events. We have managed to live with it though, but there is an ever-present and growing risk that NYCC may come to the view that it may not be used in even a one-way manner anymore. This would be disastrous for Oliver’s Mount and most likely result in events ceasing, resulting in a permanent loss of c. £4m per annum to the local economy.
I would like to ask what the obligation is of the Authority and what plans are in place to repair and reinstate Jackson’s Lane to a 2-way carriageway in good order, or to replace it with a new road from Musham Bank roundabout on the A64, that may better alleviate local traffic issues and be built on more stable ground that would likely prove to be a more cost-effective solution in both the short and longer term.
Barrie Mason, Assistant Director – Highways & Transportation responded as follows:
North Yorkshire County Council, like every Highway Authority in the country, has a duty, as laid out in the Highways Act 1980, to maintain its highway network and in line with that duty we have been monitoring Jacksons Lane in Scarborough due to on-going movements that have been observed over many years in the surrounding area. The benefits of the events at the Oliver’s Mount facility to the local economy are fully recognised and in recent years we have worked with the event organiser to ensure that an appropriate means of access is maintained on event days utilising traffic management solutions. Most recently we have been looking at potential geotechnical solutions to ensure the long term stability of Jacksons Lane and the surrounding area and will be in a position to share the outcome of this work in due course. In the interim we will continue to liaise with the event organiser about the access arrangements.
In response to a supplementary question from Mr Hayes about next steps and timeframes for any work to take place at Jacksons Lane, the complex situation was noted, with slope monitoring taking place regularly. It was reiterated that the County Council recognises the importance of the motorcycle racing events at Oliver’s Mount to the wider economy of Scarborough.
Following contributions from members noting the benefits of motorcycle racing at Oliver’s Mount around attracting visitors and tourists, Mr Hayes was thanked for attending and it was agreed that the Committee keep this matter under review.