East Riding of Yorkshire Council Leader’s column with Cllr Anne Handley

I am incredibly proud of these and how they share images that are key to Bridlington and its history. I know that people are already travelling to see them from across the country which is great news for the town. As part of this recent improvement scheme the council has also invested in Westgate Park in the Old Town, with a new footpath and benches. Soon we will be adding CCTV and new lighting, all aimed towards making the area a more welcome place.

We have also installed benches along Harbour Road. All of these improvements have been funded by a UK Shared Prosperity Fund investment of £125,000. The aim of these improvements is to boost visitor interest in the town but also make it even better for you, our residents.

If you are part of a voluntary or community group, charity, town or parish council, we have once again opened our ‘Do it For East Yorkshire’ grant scheme. Your organisation or group can apply for grants from £1,500 to £5,000 for new or pilot community led activities. The grants can be used for creative events or festivals, health and wellbeing initiatives, accessible paths, community safety or the improvement of green spaces. Projects must be fully completed and financially closed by January 2027. For more information visit eryc.link/flexigrant. Applications for funding are now open until Wednesday, September 30, or until all funds are allocated.

Our popular compost giveaways are taking place across the East Riding during May. Over the eight events 5,000 bags of compost will be given away. Residents will be able to collect two free bags of compost, which have all been recycled from the food and garden waste we place in our brown bins every week. It’s our way of saying thank you for the huge support residents continue to give to our recycling schemes and bin collections. In the Bridlington area the giveaway will be on Saturday, May 23 from 10am at the Carnaby Council Depot, Carnaby Industrial Estate.

For cyclists we have now installed cycle repair stations at six of our leisure centres, in Bridlington, Beverley, Driffield, Haltemprice, Hornsea and Withernsea. The free-to-use stations have essential tools and bike pumps so cyclists can do any repairs and get back on the road.

We recently started our annual surface dressing programme to help protect against water ingress and frost damage which causes potholes. More than 166 sections of carriageway across the East Riding – including roads in this area – will have bitumen and stone chippings laid on them this spring and summer as part of our £3.5m surface dressing programme. The project will cover the equivalent total of 68 miles of road. The work is carried out by our own highways maintenance team, so you may see them out and about laying chippings on roads in the area.

And don’t forget to come along to our popular Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, sharing some of the world’s finest nature photography.