Councillors Disappointed With Lack Of Progress in Scarborough & Whitby

Councillors have criticised the ‘lack of progress’ in supporting harbours in Scarborough and Whitby.

A “strongly worded letter” will be sent to North Yorkshire Council bosses after coastal representatives said they were disappointed by what was described as a lack of support and vision for harbours in Scarborough, Whitby, and Filey.

Councillors highlighted the need to urgently attract renewable energy businesses amid plans to create a formal investment strategy at a meeting of the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee on November 29.

Speaking at the meeting, Coun Derek Bastiman said:

“Unfortunately, our harbours are not used to the best advantage. We can’t afford to wait a great length of time for you to produce the draft report on the economic benefits of the harbours, because the offshore renewable sector is not a new opportunity.”

Coun Bastiman, who until this May was the executive member for open to business on the Conservative-led council, said:

“I know, before I was sacked from my position on the executive, that people were contacting me and have contacted me since, trying to get into both harbours to birth boats.

“And that came from a conference I attended, again, before I was sacked.

“They still contacted me because they’ve reached out to people at NYC and they got no feedback, none whatsoever, from officers or members, about the opportunities at Scarborough Harbour.”

“There’s one thing for sure, whatever political position I hold, I will always fight for the coast and moors and the opportunities of the renewable sector.”

Other issues highlighted by members included the impacts of climate change such as rising sea levels and coastal erosion as well as dredging and crustacean die-offs.

Coun Neil Swannick said:

“Seeing the plan for the strategy included in these documents, I am very disappointed. It is a barebones strategy and it doesn’t give me comfort that it is moving forward in any way.

“I think it’s a lack of senior recognition that the harbours and ports of Scarborough and Whitby are assets and North Yorkshire Council should be proud of them and maximising them.”

Chris Bourne, the authority’s head of harbours and coastal infrastructure, said:

“I do tend to agree that previous strategies haven’t been taken forward very well and I certainly think it has stalled recently.

“I think that’s why I was asked by the directors to pick up and come along with a new strategy, and the outline is deliberately empty because we want to start afresh.

“We want a new strategy that is constructed with members and current harbour users and that’s what we are going to do.”

Coun Liz Colling, chair of the area committee, said that a letter to North Yorkshire Council would highlight that the harbours “are a key part of our economy, heritage, and culture and successful future, but [we] are concerned that NYC does not grasp those issues”

The letter called on the council “to fully support the harbour team with sufficient resources to deliver a harbour strategy and to ensure that there are sufficient resources to deliver the outcomes of the strategy in a timely manner.”

Coun Phil Trumper also highlighted that Whitby’s Maritime Hub “needs to be progressed, it’s been five years in the making… let’s get on with it, again, it’s been stalled.”

The committee also resolved that a ‘harbour champion’ position should be created by the council to help promote the county’s waterfronts.