Concern Over Lack of Funding Allocation for Scarborough Road Repairs

A Scarborough Councillor is concerned that no money has been set aside in North Yorkshire Council's new budget for repairs to Scarborough's Jackson Lane.

It's the main access route to the Oliver's Mount Race circuit, the road has been closed since 2019 but has been available for limited use during racing events.

Now following more deterioration to the road, the circuit has been told it can no longer be used.

North Yorkshire Council says that £780,000 has been committed to a project to look into solutions but councillor Rich Maw is concerned that no actual build money has been allocated in the budget.

The main public route into events at the circuit, Jackson’s Lane, has been closed since January 2019 but the Oliver's Mount team have been allowed to use the road in a one-way, traffic controlled manner for their events throughout the 2019-2024 seasons, which they say "has been a great help to keep racing at Oliver’s Mount alive during that period."

However following further recent deterioration in the condition of the road, North Yorkshire Council Highways say they can no longer allow any use of Jackson’s Lane until it is properly repaired which could take several years, in the meantime discussions are underway about creating a temporary access road to the site.

The temporary road will likely require planning permission and as a result, is highly unlikely to be available for The Bob Smith Spring Cup in April and the circuit have taken the decision not to run the Spring Cup event in 2025 as a result. The 2025 season will now begin with the Cock o' The North in June. The aim is to have the temporary road in place by June, allowing for potential weather delays in the early months of the year. The rest of the 2025 calendar will consist of The Barry Sheene festival in July, SuperMoto in August, and the Steve Henshaw Gold Cup in September. Two full weekends of motorcycle hillclimbs are also planned for May and August.

In an update to local councillors in November the highways department said that £780k has been allocated to develop a permanent repair to Jackson's Lane and said that the authority is "actively looking" at the feasibility of alternative access routes to the circuit.

"The Council recognises the importance to the local economy of the motorcycle race events at The Oliver’s Mount race circuit in Scarborough and officers have been working closely with the event organiser to ensure a safe means of access using a strictly controlled traffic management solution and regular geotechnical monitoring surveys.

Recently the council has allocated £780k capital funding to procure a design and build contractor to design a suitable permanent geotechnical design solution to this complex land instability problem. As the design solution is not yet known it is not possible to provide a timescale or cost for delivery however, the allocation of the funding for the design stage illustrates the high importance being given by the council to delivering a solution.

Officers have met with the event organiser earlier this month to discuss the implications for the future of events on Oliver’s Mount and the latest survey information which shows that the traffic management solution that has been successfully implemented during events this year is no longer considered possible going forward.

North Yorkshire Council is actively looking at feasibility of an alternative access route up to the circuit for the public to use on race days when the other roads up to Oliver’s Mount are closed because they form part of the race track."

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