Temporary Road Proposed to Secure Future of Oliver's Mount Racing in Scarborough

Olivers Mount Racing organisers say the Spring Cup won't take place in 2025 but the rest of the season will go ahead thanks to plans for construction of a temporary access road.

Olivers Mount Racing organisers are welcoming moves to create a temporary road to enable events to continue at the circuit following
the full closure of Jackson’s Lane.

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.

Andy Hayes is director of Oliver's Mount Racing- he says the local authority are putting a temporary plan in place:

Andy says:

"Whilst the loss of Jackson’s Lane is a major blow to our events, it was always going to happen sooner or later and for the long term future of Oliver’s Mount, it is best that we and the council face up to this challenge now.

Given Jackson’s Lane is an adopted highway, NYC Highways department are committed to repairing the road, even at considerable expense, but this will unfortunately take several years to achieve. In the meantime, North Yorkshire Council are looking to put a temporary road in from Musham Bank roundabout so that public access to Oliver’s Mount events is maintained when the race track is live until the Jackson’s Lane repair can be completed.

This is fantastic news and helps secure the future of Oliver’s Mount for future generations and is a key element of our recovery plan for Oliver’s Mount."

Andy says the deterioration of the road this year has made the situation more complicated.

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.

Andy says:

"Rather than promote an event only to have to cancel it in March, we have taken the decision not to run The Spring Cup in the 2025 season but to start the major race events with The Cock o’ The North in June, followed up with The Barry Sheene festival in July, SuperMoto in August and Steve Henshaw Gold Cup in September.

We also hope to run 2 full weekends of motorcycle hillclimbs in May and August."

Andy adds that making the decision now about the Spring Cup provides racing fans with some certainty about the upcoming season.

In an update to local councillors last week 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."

Andy says he's been reassured by the council's recognition of the importance of the circuit to the town.

Andy says that the deterioration of Jackson's Lane this year has been a worry for the event organisers but says the support from local councillors in finding a solution has been strong.

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.