Scarborough's Filey Road Sports Centre Plan Backed by Cabinet

Scarborough Council’s cabinet has voted in favour of granting in-principle approval to the sale and redevelopment of the Filey Road sports centre.

The cabinet unanimously granted in-principle approval to the plan which will see the former Filey Road sports centre partially used as private housing and student accommodation, while the tennis courts are also set to come back into public use.

The sale and development of the site is also supported by the places and futures scrutiny committee, though concerns have been raised regarding the scale and impact of residential development on the site.

Speaking at the meeting on Tuesday, December 13, Cllr Liz Colling, cabinet member for inclusive growth, said:

“I hope you approve the innovative proposals for this site that are brought forward in this report.

“There are three key things here: securing the future of tennis provision in the town which we have looked forward to for some time, bringing back into use the listed pavilion which I think is a laudable aim, and also providing some new residential accommodation that is in keeping with the local area.”

A further report will be taken to the cabinet to obtain final approval following “further due diligence on planning and value before agreeing on a final heads of terms”.

Chris Bourne, the council’s head of projects, said:

“I’m sure that members will be aware that this site has been marketed before a number of times and there has been a planning application which was not brought to successful fruition.

“What we have tried to do is to bring forward a development brief by working with a lot of the interested parties, particularly the statutory authorities that hold a lot of controlling interest in the site, to make sure we can provide some guidance to the developers.

“So when they come forward to develop the site, if they follow the development brief and the guidance, they ought to be assured of planning permission.”

Mr Bourne added:

“The site does have a lot of complexity and I’m sure that members are aware of what those are. It is in a conservation area, it has a longstanding historic sporting use that brings in Sport England and its role to protect sporting interests. It also has listed buildings on the site which brings in Historic England and their obligations.”

The planning brief, which was also developed in consultation with the Lawn Tennis Association and the local planning authority, has tried to overcome the challenges faced by the site’s complexity, according to council officers.

Subsequently, the site has been divided into three separate sections to be used for community tennis, residential development, and Scarborough College.

The cabinet’s in-principle approval of the plan means that the community tennis section will be handed to a community trust on a long lease for refurbishment and operation of the tennis courts “for full community use.”

This will lead to four additional courts being brought into use in the area.

The cabinet also approved the disposal of the listed tennis pavilion building to Scarborough College, which plans on refurbishing the building – which has been targeted by vandals and trespassers in recent years – and using it as student accommodation.

The remainder of the site, including the listed grandstand, has been approved for in-principle residential development.

Demolition of the listed grandstand would be supported by Historic England, according to the council, on the condition that the pavilion is “sympathetically” refurbished and brought back into use.

Council leader, Cllr Steve Siddons, said:

“I think the proposals that have been put forward will create a vast improvement, not only for the residents who live nearby but for everyone that lives on the south side of the centre of town, as they’ll be able to use those facilities.”

“I think it is long overdue and we do need to make some progress on that,”

The authority is seeking a capital receipt of at least £1.8m from the site, in order to recoup its investment in the new sports and leisure village at Weaponness Valley.

The cabinet also approved a marketing budget of £20,000 for the sale of the land, which will be “taken from the capital receipt”

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