Scarborough bids for £10m as it aims to be England's best performing coastal town by 2025

Developed in collaboration with the Scarborough Town Centre Strategy Team, the bid has been described as key milestone in the journey to improve the town centre.

If the bid is successful, it will open up opportunities to create what the council has called a “mixed-use town centre with a diverse economy and an inviting place that everyone can be proud of.

It will also help to support the council’s ambition for Scarborough to become a university town.

The funding would go towards repurposing empty buildings and creating new public spaces, greening the high street and creating a cleaner and more attractive environment, investing in public IT infrastructure, driving new industries into the town centre such as education, creative and digital, and delivering events and activities for all ages to attract more people into the town centre and help to create a fully inclusive community.

The council is expected to find out in the autumn whether its bid to the Future High Streets Fund has been successful.

Sue Anderson-Brown, chairman of Scarborough Town Centre Strategy Team said: “The bid has been a huge piece of work and I’m really pleased to get the application submitted.

“I have been impressed by how well the council and the business sector have come together to work on the bid, which in itself, is a very positive step for the town centre and our local community.

“As this significant milestone has been reached, I feel now is the right time to stand aside and allow someone else to take the Town Centre Strategy team forward to what I hope will be implementing the Future High Streets funding.

“I look forward to continuing to work with the council on other projects that will benefit Scarborough and help the town achieve its ambitions.”

Cllr Liz Colling, Scarborough Council’s deputy leader, added: “We’ve worked in collaboration with the Town Centre Strategy Team to submit what we think is a really strong bid to the Future High Streets Fund to help us deliver our ambitious plans for Scarborough town centre.

“It represents an important next step in the delivery of our Town Centre Strategy and, in light of the big hit the town centre has taken this year during the coronavirus pandemic, it is also a vital part of our economic recovery plan to build back better.

“I would like to thank Sue Anderson-Brown for the valuable contribution she has made in leading the Town Centre Strategy Team and working with us and our partners to reach this important stage.”

Later this year, Scarborough Council will bid to the government’s Towns Fund for up to £25m.

Scarborough and Whitby were nominated last year as two of 100 towns nationally to be shortlisted to bid for funding from the Towns Fund.

A bid to the Towns Fund for up to £25 million for Whitby is also being prepared.