Scarborough Council leader promises £1m funding for Filey ‘because it was not part of the Towns Fund deal’

The successful Towns Deal bid resulted in £37.5m being granted to Scarborough and Whitby in order to deliver a programme of projects in support of “long-term economic growth”.

Though Filey was not part of the Towns Fund process, Filey Town Council has continued to work with SBC and funding has now been confirmed.

Cllr Siddons said: “The cabinet and I are very keen that the transformational agenda of the Towns Deals for Whitby and Scarborough are supported by the new authority and continue through to completion.

“The same applies to our Vision for Filey which will be brought forward to cabinet this month.

"It will provide a pot of £1 million for the town.”

In a work report prepared for an upcoming full meeting of Scarborough Council on Monday, January 16, the senior councillor added that the funds were being made available “because Filey was not eligible to be part of the Towns Deal programme”.

Cllr Siddons also said that North Yorkshire Council’s chief executive, Richard Flinton and the leader, Cllr Carl Les, gave “reassurances” that continuity of services is “a priority” and “major projects would be appropriately resourced”.

On April 1, a new North Yorkshire Council will replace the county’s borough councils as well as North Yorkshire County Council as part of devolution plans for the region. The creation of a parish council is also currently being planned for Scarborough.

An update on some of the Towns Deal projects has also been provided by Cllr Liz Colling, the cabinet member for inclusive growth.

Cllr Colling said in her work report that plans for the “public realm” of the Station Gateway project are “progressing well with a preferred approach chosen after consultation with stakeholders” and a planning application is set to be submitted in January.

In August 2022, councillors voted to approve an additional budget of £640,000 to “progress the Scarborough Station Gateway phase one public realm works”.

This increased the approved budget to £1.1m, which will be funded from the already accepted £6.68m Towns Fund Grant allocated towards the project.

Cllr Colling added that other Towns Deal plans are also progressing.