Time to start planning Scarborough festivities is now

As The Scarborough News reported, last year’s fantastic sunny days of summer did not provide an expected boost in footfall figures.

The reply given to the media by the council portfolio holder responsible as to why the figures were down was disconcerting.

I personally know that the seafront has also suffered a decline in footfall.

The West Pier and South Bay underground were never fully occupied before 11am.

I personally feel that we need to recognise that the town needs a town centre with joint new responsibilities of seafront manager.

Malcolm Hall did an excellent job in the role of town centre manager.

He is greatly missed, particularly at Christmas. We miss many of the events he co-ordinated.

A lot of people have commented to me about the small committee who organised the recent Christmas seafront spectacular for the past two years.

The main concern was that you obviously cannot see the lights being physically switched on from Foreshore Road, but the fireworks display was superb.

Thanks for the fireworks must go to Cllr Jefferson and the locality monies from North Yorkshire County Council.

I understand that other sites are going to be considered for the Christmas switch on in future, as the location outside the Brunswick Centre caused public safety issues.

May I propose that the St Nicholas cliff, in front of the Grand Hotel and Travelodge areas be considered? Fireworks could be seen launched from the former South Bay pool and you could view the lights on Huntress Row and Bar Street.

Hotel guests could possibly be allowed to park in the South Bay underground free of charge to compensate for the inconvenience of losing parking for a day.

Now is the time for planning to begin and make the 2019 Christmas festival the envy of our neighbouring seaside resorts.

Guy Smith

Peasholm Drive, Scarborough