Why Scarborough CDC was built in Eastfield despite town centre proposals
A site has been selected for a new health centre in Eastfield after a dozen other potential locations were eliminated.
Eastfield was selected as the location for Scarborough’s Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC), which was recently officially given retrospective planning permission ahead of its opening this month.
But when the CDC programme was launched under the Conservative Government, Scarborough’s centre was proposed to “open in the town centre near Scarborough train station in December 2023 and offer 91,000 additional checks a year once fully operational”.
More than a dozen alternatives sites, including the former Comet building, the Scarborough Tiles and Bathrooms’ premises, and the former Yorkshire Coast College site at Lady Edith’s Drive, were discarded in favour of the Scarborough Business Park site.
According to North Yorkshire Council, it was a condition of the funding for the Scarborough Community Diagnostic Centre to “not locate such facilities at existing hospital sites”.
Having CDCs separate from urgent diagnostic scan facilities means shorter waiting times and a reduced risk of cancellation, which can happen when more urgent cases take priority within the acute hospital setting, a planning report notes.
However, officers also noted that healthcare does not strictly fall within the “industrial and business use classes that outline approval for the site” as part of the authority’s Local Plan.
According to a NHS site selection process, the Scarborough Business Park location “met the availability criterion because it did not require an existing business to relocate or any site clearance”.
A council report highlights that in terms of health, Scarborough is the most deprived locality in North Yorkshire, with 24.1 per cent of its population – around 26,000 people – living in the 20 per cent most deprived areas in England.
“The Health Inequalities Dashboard, as of May 2025, shows that areas with high deprivation like Eastfield experience lower life expectancy, higher premature mortality rates, especially from cardiovascular disease and cancer.”
A council report added: “These trends have worsened during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was considered by the NHS Trust that delivering the Community Diagnostic Centre in Scarborough quickly, within the Government’s targeted deadline was essential as the indicators confirm that Eastfield faces substantial health needs and inequalities.”
One objection to the plans was made by a business in Scarborough town centre, which stated that “building unsuitable developments on out-of-town sites can also have a significant negative impact on the vitality and prosperity of established town centres”.
However, the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the sustainable two-storey hospital building would “allow patients to access planned diagnostic care nearer to home without the need to attend acute hospital sites”.
According to North Yorkshire Council, discussions are also under way to improve public transport links to the site.
A report states: “This site is located 0.8 miles from Seamer Station.
"The number 7 and 7A East Yorkshire Motor Services buses run close to the site from Scarborough town centre and Eastfield.
“The agent has stated that active discussions are in place between the NHS Trust and the bus company to amend the route so that it runs along Cayton Approach Route and users can access the Community Diagnostic Centre.”