Here's how you can help develop a bid that could see up to £25 million awarded to Scarborough

Scarborough and Whitby are two of 101 towns in England selected to develop Town Investment Plans and submit bids for a share of the £3.6bn Towns Fund.

Successful bids could bring in up to £25m per town to help deliver long term economic growth and make a significant contribution towards the council's Building a Better Borough scheme.

Following last month’s announcement of a new partnership in Scarborough, there will be an opportunity for local residents and businesses to contribute their views and opinions towards a draft blueprint at a public drop-in event on Saturday February 29 at Scarborough Library between 10.30am and 4.30pm.

The event will be hosted by Scarborough Borough Council and external consultants, AECOM, BE Group and Hemingway Design, who have experience advising on and preparing blueprints for similar locations. Anyone attending will be able to ask questions and share their feedback.

The project team is particularly interested in hearing people’s views on what is good about living in Scarborough and what should be included in the town’s vision for the next ten years to stimulate greater economic, cultural and social wellbeing. This will include seeking people’s opinion on emerging regeneration projects and ideas for future projects.

The geographical scope for the bid to the Towns Fund covers the urban area of Scarborough, up to and including Eastfield to the south of the town and Burniston to the north.

Anyone that can’t attend on 29 February is invited to have their say through the Government's 'My Town' campaign.

Suggestions can be made via the #mytown website at mytown.communities.gov.uk

Details of a separate session for local designers and creatives to look at ‘creative recommendations’ for Scarborough will be announced in the near future.

Cllr Liz Colling, Scarborough Borough Council Cabinet Member for Economy, Communities and Commercial said: “Our borough has always had to innovate and evolve to keep pace with change and it’s very important that this continues. Through the development of the bid, there is an exciting opportunity for our local community to get involved in shaping the future of Scarborough and contributing their creative ideas for how it could thrive in the future.”

David Kerfoot MBE DL, Chair of the Scarborough Town Deal Board added: “Competition for funding will be very competitive and that’s why we want to work together with local residents and the business community to develop an investment plan that really stands out as innovative, inclusive and sustainable with realistic objectives for transforming the vitality of Scarborough.”

An additional public drop-in event will be held during May to update people on the progress of the blueprint. The final proposal will be agreed by the Scarborough Town Board and Scarborough Borough Council for submission to the Government by September 2020.

Whitby Town Deal Board will also be holding a public drop in event about the draft blueprint for Whitby, details of which will be announced shortly.