Introduction
Successful 21st century towns need to be vibrant active spaces that are relevant to the whole community. In Scarborough that includes the millions of visitors who pass through our borough every year.
Scarborough is not a typical town by many measures, in comparison to other coastal towns we enjoy significantly greater footfall and visitor’s numbers and are less seasonal than many. This is largely due to the fact that we have so much to offer throughout the calendar year, from the coastline to culture, heritage, retail, leisure and entertainment and a year round events and festivals programme.
Unlike many other towns Scarborough “Town Centre” is only one element of what Scarborough has to offer. If the Town Centre is to thrive it needs to be more relevant and attractive to those who visit and use the town for other reasons.
The town centre needs to become a thriving hub with something to offer across all generations and demographics and for both the local community and visitors.
Our Vision
Scarborough Town Centre will re-align itself for the 21st century to become a hub of leisure, learning and living by building on its rich heritage, culture and traditional retail and leisure offer. It will become a national exemplar through dynamic, welcoming and customer / community focussed activity and intervention. This will be measured by footfall, vacancy rates, levels of investment, new business start-ups, stakeholder involvement and customer satisfaction.
Strategic Objectives
To build the success of Scarborough Town Centre as a vibrant, mixed use centre for all stakeholders, investors and the community we aim to:
- be the best performing Coastal Town Centre in England by 2025 and the primary economic hub for retail, leisure, learning and living within the Yorkshire Coast Area
- increase residential living within our town centre by 25% by 2025
- work together with public and private property owners and agencies to ensure the built environment and infrastructure exceeds the expectations of our customers and community by 2025
The Focus of our Activity
- Making the town a mixed-use environment
- An inviting public realm we can be proud of
- Developing a university town
- Night time economy
- Introduce smart town centre infrastructure
- Build our identity, image and brand
- Establish a collaborative and supportive town centre community
Making the town a mixed use environment
Encouraging a diverse offer within the Town Centre through festivals and events, incentives, planning, licensing and regulation and building on the cultural and heritage assets by:
- regenerating the town as a socio - economic and cultural hub for the Borough offering the full range of public and private sector services
- utilising vacant premises for alternative activity and entrepreneurship such as pop up shops, office and residential space, leisure, creative and cultural activity
- working with partners to acquire and develop town centre property in line with the strategy for residential and alternative use
- ensuring policy is aligned and supports changes in town centre activity including:
- A planning policy that supports and actively encourages change of use within the town centre
- Targeted rate relief / business support for certain sectors / start-ups within the town centre
- Reviewing of parking fees and provision and transport routes into and out of the town centre
- establishing a comprehensive programme of festival and events in support of town centre activity and maximise footfall
- encouraging specialist and evening activities which contribute positively to the economic and social wellbeing of the community providing access to affordable quality goods which also compliments mainstream retailing
An inviting public realm we can be proud of
We will work to deliver interventions which will:
- clearly redefine the town centre parameters giving a focus for investment and activity
- physically improve and make best use of our heritage assets by encouraging property owners to maintain, improve or reinstate shop fronts and premises in keeping with the historic nature and high quality image of the town
- ensure accessibility to all and establish the physical linkages to the established and emerging “quarters” of the town such as cultural, harbour and beach, leisure and heritage
- invest and improve the public realm infrastructure and streetscape, “re-greening” our town centre and public spaces.
- make the most of empty premises and encouraging alternative uses through incentives to landlords
- provide a clean and safe environment for all
Developing a University Town
Building on the growing student population generated by the expansion of Coventry University, the provision of the UTC and Scarborough Tech we will:
- work with the further education and higher education providers to establish student living accommodation in the town centre and to grow the student population
- work to meet the needs of a student population who will in turn generate footfall and income outside of the traditional operating limits
- provide space within the town centre for accommodation, study and social interaction whilst creating a town centre experience that will attract students including pubs, bars, live music and cultural venues and sports and leisure facilities
Night Time Economy
Encouraging a more diverse evening economy that appeals to a wider range of ages and interests and increase the number of people using the town centre during the early evening by working with partner agencies to:
- encourage diversification, balance of uses and types of establishments
- develop the transition process from day to night time economies
- making use of legislative tools and powers, including the CIZ to shape activity, improve quality and responsible activity of businesses
- develop a programme of night time economy events
Introduce smart town centre infrastructure
By capitalising and investing in the existing high speed broadband network we will work to:
- establish a smart town centre through the use of 4G wifi (5G may be possible in time) technology providing up to date information on everything happening within the town from one virtual platform
- deploy IOT technology where appropriate to assist in the effective running of the town centre
- establish the provision of electric vehicle charging infrastructure
- establish a tech sector for Scarborough including the creation of a tech hub
Build our identity, image and brand
Establishing a coherent and collaborative marketing and promotional platform for the town by
- aligning the town centre strategy with the tourism strategy and emerging tech and creative sector strategies.
- establishing a second home for exhibitions of national, international arts institutions and cultural activity.
- creating a common marketing hub providing pathways to everything the town has to offer and bringing together the retail, leisure, tourism, cultural, heritage and community through one gateway
Establish a collaborative and supportive town centre community
To establish a culture which will:
- create a Town Centre Commission (Town Team) with a Town Centre Champion providing a leadership and ambassadorial role for the town
- be flexible, welcoming and supportive of entrepreneurs and inward investment
- recognise the needs of customers and the wider community and place them at the forefront of what we do
- clearly identify roles and responsibilities and the timeframe for action and delivery
- secure effective working between the public and private sectors