New partnerships to develop Towns Fund bids for Whitby and Scarborough

The partnerships will see Scarborough Borough Council collaborate closely with residents and businesses in Whitby and Scarborough about what they want to see included in the

bid for their town.

Successful bids could bring in up to £25m for each town to help deliver long-term economic growth and make a significant contribution towards Building a Better Borough, the council’s recently announced programme to deliver better outcomes for communities throughout the Borough of Scarborough.

Cllr Steve Siddons, Leader of Scarborough Borough Council, said: “Getting these two bids right is a chance for people and businesses from Whitby and Scarborough to play a major part in shaping their town for the future.

“If our bids for these two government investment pots are successful, it would mean an exciting future for our towns with regeneration and community building at the heart of it.

"By all working together and pooling ideas, our chances of success can only improve.”

The council has already begun its Your Borough, Your Say consultation with local communities about its overarching aims for Building a Better Borough and now, through the Towns Fund bid process, it is inviting people from across the Whitby and Scarborough communities to submit their ideas for the actual changes they would like to see in their own town.

People can feed in their ideas via the Government’s ‘My Town’ campaign, which will capture information on behalf of the different towns developing bids and forward to the relevant town area for inclusion.

It’s an easy way for residents and businesses to submit their ideas for what they think would make a successful town bid.

Visit the #mytown website here to make suggestions.

At the same time, a Town Deal Board for each town, made up of representatives from different local organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors, has been set up to

consider proposals, develop Town Investment Plans and ensure the Whitby and Scarborough bids are submitted to the Government’s Towns Fund by September 2020.

Gareth Edmunds, External Affairs Director at Sirius Minerals plc has been appointed as the Chairman of the Whitby Town Deal Board.

Current Chairman of the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership, David Kerfoot MBE DL, has been appointed as the Chairman of the Scarborough Town Deal Board.

In December last year, Scarborough Borough Council and Filey Town Council announced their intention to work together to create a Local Area Action Plan for Filey with the needs of the local community very much at its heart.

This work, which will bring together the joint efforts and resources of both councils, along with the passion, enthusiasm and good work of the community in Filey, will progress alongside the Town Investment Plans for Whitby and Scarborough.