Middle Deepdale residents hit out at plans to make them ‘first community to lose local shops before they’ve opened’

Residents at the Middle Deepdale development in Scarborough have hit out at plans that would make them “the first community in the UK to lose their local shops before they have even opened”

More than 25 objections have been lodged against the Sanctuary Group Ltd’s application to convert three vacant retail units into flats which would form part of the Jazz Court over 55’s housing site.

Jazz Court, on Ashmead Square, is part of the wider Middle Deepdale development of more than 1,300 homes in Eastfield, south of Scarborough, which was approved in 2013.

Sanctuary Group said that since the site’s construction nine years ago, the retail units have remained vacant despite “extensive marketing efforts” and have made “no contribution to the community”.

But residents said that “for part of the last two years, there was no signage in the windows giving contact details for the agents” and suggested that the retail units could be “incentivised with a rent-free period”.

Locals also raised concerns that an existing lack of facilities would be exasperated if the conversion was approved.

The fully staffed extra care facility of 60 residential units has a restaurant in addition to the vacant retail units which Sanctuary Group said “pose a negative impact on the community centre as formed by the care home, restaurant, and primary school”.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, resident Ruth Hutt said: “We must be the first community in the UK to lose their local shops before they have even opened.

“The residents were promised shops and purchased their homes on the promise of a thriving community with Ashmead Square as a community hub, but the Middle Deepdale development has no community facilities other than a primary school”.

Another resident, Abigail Walker, said: “When we put a deposit on our house we were promised shops, doctors surgeries, parks, and dentists to make the area into one community with all necessary facilities.

“We haven’t seen any of these and selling some potential units to make into flats reduces the chances even more of having shops near us.”

When the construction of Jazz Court was approved in 2014, the council stated that the creation of a “neighbourhood hub” with retail facilities was needed to ensure that “the basic needs of local residents are met”.

The Sanctuary Group’s application concluded that it was “confident that the proposals will help ‘activate’ the square and bring a more lively atmosphere”.

The proposal is pending with North Yorkshire Council and the planning authority.