'New options' for former Futurist site to go before Scarborough councillors in the new year

Scarborough Council’s leader, Cllr Steve Siddons, has revealed that “new options” for the site, whose permanent use has yet to be identified, will go before councillors in the new year.

The move comes after a review of the deal between the council and theme-park operator Flamingo Land, which unveiled plans earlier this year to build a rollercoaster, a 60m-high “cliffhanger” tower ride and a four-storey building housing restaurants and play areas on the former Futurist site.

Cllr Siddons said: “We’re listening to what people have said to us and we’re looking at the planning options that are available to us.

“We will work with Flamingo Land, if Flamingo Land are happy to work with us and at this stage they are, and in the new year, either January or February, we will bring a paper to Full Council that sets out some new options for that site.”

The first artist’s impressions of the attraction, branded Flamingo Land Coast, divided public opinion. Although a number of people welcomed the investment, saying it will boost the town’s tourism, many thought it looked “out of place”. Some even went as far as saying it was a “monstrosity”.

Despite suggesting Flamingo Land’s plans didn’t come “with a great deal of detail”, Cllr Siddons admitted that the scheme was “very much disliked”. Should Flamingo Land refuse to make changes to its proposal, he said, the council will look for another developer.

He added: “Lots of people are telling us that different scale of buildings might be more appropriate there but Flamingo Land have said they’re happy to work with us if they can.

“Obviously they’ll have their own views of what they need to deliver from a business perspective but they are our preferred developer and it’s only right that we work with them to start with.

“If they can deliver what we want for the future after talking to residents, then we’re happy to work with them. If they say ‘that’s not what we want to do’ we’ll have to look for someone else to develop that site.”

Cllr Siddons made the remarks shortly after launching the council’s new ‘Building a Better Borough’ strategy which focuses on delivering on people’s priorities and listening to residents’ views. The scheme will start with a wide public consultation in the new year.

“We can’t please everybody all the time – you ask 100 people what they think and you’ll get 100 different asnwers – but what we’ve got to try and do is pull that together in a way that thinks about the heritage of that seafront location and to do something that helps our aspirations to deliver better quality jobs for people.”