Regeneration blueprint revealed for town

A masterplan for how Whitby could attract new investment in future will be considered by Scarborough Borough Councillors at their Cabinet meeting next week.

The town blueprint sets out the opportunities for regeneration over the coming years.

There are four main themes, a renaissance for the harbour, enhancing activity in the west of the town, ‘connecting Whitby’ physically and digitally and Whitby ‘beacons’.

In the harbour area, improvements are proposed to the waterfront along Pier Road, the fish quay and market, Brewery Wharfside and the Upper Harbour.

Church Street would see changes to the public realm, the old town hall would be refurbished to give it a new lease of life and Market Square would be improved.

Elsewhere, there is an ambition to create a green space quarter in the West Cliff area and new uses to be found for Whitby Pavilion.

Under the ‘connecting Whitby’ theme, there would be a new link from the town centre to both the Cinder Track and Pannett Park.

Coastal links would also be improved, better wayfinding installed and public Wi-Fi made available in the town centre.

There are also three ‘beacon’ projects. These include a maritime training hub on Endeavour Wharf, 50 new homes to create a carbon neutral village at Broomfields and an extension to the existing Eastside wellbeing centre.

The borough council notes these projects will require considerable resources, but points out that it has already secured more than £17m in support from the Towns Deal fund.

It explains the blueprint has been developed in consultation with Whitby Town Deal Board, Whitby Town Council and dozens of local businesses and residents.

When it meets next week, the borough council’s cabinet will be asked to adopt the masterplan.

Councillor Liz Colling, cabinet member for inclusive growth, said: “The Whitby blueprint sets out an exciting vision for the future of the town with clear opportunities to improve it for residents, businesses and visitors.

“The masterplan has been driven by extensive input from the local community and organisations such as Whitby Town Council.  I am grateful for their involvement.

“If my fellow councillors approve the plan, we should realise the benefits of several of the schemes in less than two years.”