Levelling Up minister visits Whitby to see how Town Deal cash is being spent

Ms Davison spent the morning in Scarborough, first opening the new Green Construction Skills Village in Eastfield, before moving on to view plans for the regeneration of Scarborough’s West Pier.

The afternoon saw the Bishop Auckland MP travel to Whitby, visiting both Eastside Community Centre, where new facilities for Whitby Boxing Club are almost complete, and the old town hall to see the difference the Town Deal Funding will make to the town.

A contribution from the Town Deal Fund of £823,000 has been used to build a modern new home for Whitby Boxing Club, providing greater opportunities for young people to participate in sport, and an extension and improvements to the existing community centre providing a more flexible space for training, activities and community use.

Additional funding has been provided to Whitby Boxing Club from Scarborough Borough Council, Sport England and the Woodsmith Foundation.

Speaking on behalf of Whitby Boxing Club, Gordon Morrison said: “The visit went really well, we explained that we needed a bigger facility as we couldn’t accommodate people at the old one at St Patrick’s Church.

"Ms Davison was interested in whether we had contact with local schools and I told her very much so, we’ve turned some lovely lads round that were going the wrong way.”

Ms Davison said: "Sport is a great thing for young people to break boredom. Boxing in particular seems to work with youngsters to help teach discipline and to get fit and active.”

David Kerfoot, chairman of Scarborough Town Deal board, spoke earlier in the day about the benefits of the Town Deal funding to Scarborough. He said: “We have eight projects, and [The Skills Village] is the first to come home.

“It’s a wonderful example of what funding from Whitehall can do.”

Ms Davison then went on to visit the old town hall where she met Mayor of Whitby, Linda Wild. Mrs Wild said: “The town hall is going to be completely refurbished. It is going to be a bigger and better project than people think it will be. We’re going to install running water and toilet facilities.

"We’re hoping to glaze in the undercroft, but so we can completely open it if we need to. We’re hoping to give the town hall a sustainable future, we want it to still be here in 100 years. Ms Davison said that there is a similar building in her constituency in Barnard Castle, so she fully appreciated the difficulties with a building like this.”

Whitby Gazette reporter Louise Perrin took the opportunity to ask Ms Davison about the impact second home ownership was having on the town.

Ms Davison stated that the Government was aware of the issue and cited current legislation passing through Parliament as part of the solution to the problem. She said: “Additional council tax on second homes is part of the jigsaw and making more social housing available so people can downsize is another.”

•Is the Towns Deal cash for Whitby being used to good effect? Send us your views: email [email protected].