Permission for bait freezer on Whitby’s Fish Quay refused - more than 180 people signed a petition against it

Scarborough Council has refused permission for a bait freezer on Whitby’s Fish Quay after more than 180 people signed a petition against it.
Whitby's Pier Road area where planning application was submitted for the freezer to be installed. Picture by Richard PonterWhitby's Pier Road area where planning application was submitted for the freezer to be installed. Picture by Richard Ponter
Whitby's Pier Road area where planning application was submitted for the freezer to be installed. Picture by Richard Ponter

Grimes Shellfish Ltd of Scarborough wanted to place the unit behind four huts on the quay in Whitby’s Pier Road in an area popular with visitors and residents.

Whitby Town Council and the traders who use the huts objected, however, saying the unit would spoil the views and area for the public.

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A total of 181 people also signed a petition calling on the council to stop the development despite the applicant saying he has no other option to support his business.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service earlier this year, Mick Grimes said: “Last year, I put in a bid for the fish sheds, a good proposal that would have employed 20 people but the [borough] council went with someone else. I’m effectively blocked from using the sheds, they are not an option for me, so the [council’s] harbour office suggested [the proposed area] instead.

“I run boats out of Whitby and in bad weather we have to send a van back to Scarborough to store the bait. So we are sending one van of bait in the morning and then, sometimes, one back to Scarborough later the same day.

“We don’t really have any other option for the freezer in Whitby.”

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A spokesman for Scarborough Council confirmed it had suggested the location to Mr Grimes but now the authority’s planning officers have refused his application.

In his written decision, the council’s planning manager David Walker said that “the proposed unit is of a large, bulky design that despite the use of neutral cladding would detract from this section of Fish Quay.”

There were also concerns about the noise from the freezer and the impact it would have on the nearby kiosks, and that it would detract from the character of the area.

Three people wrote to the council in support of Mr Grimes’ proposal.