Filey Road Sports Centre Site Likely to Become Housing But With Tennis Courts

It looks like the former Filey Road Sports centre site in Scarborough will become housing but with some of it's sporting heritage retained.

A borough council committee yesterday backed a proposal to sell the council owned site for redevelopment, the proposal will now go to the cabinet for "in principle" approval.

Closed for several years, the site has been targeted by vandals and trespassers and the authority is hoping that the sale of the site will preserve the buildings and tennis facilities as well as balance its £1.8m of “outstanding finance”.

Part of the sports centre is likely to be redeveloped into 24 dwellings, but some aspects of the site would be preserved, with the Pavilion being reused by Scarborough College and Sport England insisting that Tennis courts must be present.

Chris Bourne is the Borough Council's head of projects, he says Sports England were clear on their requirements for the site.

Chris Bourne says a number of proposals have been looked at for the site and says the recommended plan balances the need for housing with the need to maintain tennis facilities and some of the listed buildings on the site.

The council has stated that it is seeking to market part of the site “for residential development that is sensitive to the location within the Weaponness conservation area” while leasing four hard tennis courts to a community trust to operate under a community use agreement.

Additionally, it would

“dispose of the freehold interest of 0.7ha of land comprising the listed pavilion, sports hall, squash courts, MUGA and car park to Scarborough College for the intended use of sporting, educational and boarding facilities,”

The site is said to have “considerable historic value as a reminder of the important story of sports heritage of the town” but has partially fallen into a state of disrepair owing to damage caused by trespassers.

Chris Bourne says the proposal is seeking to set out some guidance to potential developers about how the site could be bought back in to use.

Scarborough College, which was said to be “desperate for accommodation” due to increasing interest from international students, would convert the sports pavilion into boarding facilities.

According to a council officer, the pavilion is “under threat due to trespassing” and told the committee that there was a fire at the site “just the other week”.

Adrian Perry, chairman of the Scarborough Civic Society, attended the meeting to raise concerns about the impact on residential density if the proposed development proceeds.

Mr Perry said:

“In the brief, it states that one of the aims is the sustainable redevelopment of the Filey Road site with ultra-low density residential development. It is clear that 24 homes on this site are not in keeping with the low density of the conservation area.”

He added:

“Most of the buildings are three stories and very close together. If you look at the drawings showing the existing properties in the conservation area you would see that there would be room for around six properties, not 24”.

However, councillors were told that the number of proposed dwellings has already been reduced and that the

“lower level of development now proposed is deemed appropriate and acceptable in principle”.

The committee was also reminded that reducing the number of dwellings would decrease the value of the land and subsequently the income which the authority would receive.

Adrian Perry, chairman of the Scarborough Civic Society, attended the meeting to raise concerns about the impact on residential density if the proposed development proceeds.

Mr Perry said:

“In the brief, it states that one of the aims is the sustainable redevelopment of the Filey Road site with ultra-low density residential development. It is clear that 24 homes on this site are not in keeping with the low density of the conservation area.”

He added:

“Most of the buildings are three stories and very close together. If you look at the drawings showing the existing properties in the conservation area you would see that there would be room for around six properties, not 24”.

However, councillors were told that the number of proposed dwellings has already been reduced and that the “lower level of development now proposed is deemed appropriate and acceptable in principle”.

The committee was also reminded that reducing the number of dwellings would decrease the value of the land and subsequently the income which the authority would receive.

In principle approval of the plans will proceed to the authority’s cabinet, which is next set to meet on Tuesday, December 13. However, officers predicted that the plans would not be finalised before next year’s local government reorganisation.

More details on the proposal can be found at https://democracy.scarborough.gov.uk/documents/s112059/22234%20Appendix%20B%20-%20Draft%20Dev%20Brief.pdf