Decision due on £7m shopping centre revamp funding

Plans for a £7m funding package to help turn a former shopping centre into a leisure complex are set to be discussed by council leaders.

Scarborough Group International wants to create a six-screen cinema as well as food and drink outlets at Brunswick Shopping Centre, which closed last year.

North Yorkshire Council previously agreed to lend developers £8m, provide £10.5m in public grant funding and allocate a further £3.5m from the government's Pride in Place programme.

Business owners have welcomed the multi-million pound development, with cafe manager Chris Parrinder saying the town needed "just a bit of love" to bring it back to life.

The proposed £7m funding package from the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority is due to be considered at a cabinet meeting at Scarborough Town Hall later.

If approved, the funding would allow the project to progress to a full business case, with an updated planning application to be submitted ahead of construction starting.

David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said: "High streets and town centres need our backing, not quick fixes.

"Redeveloping the Brunswick Centre is set to be the catalyst for a wider revival of the town."

Once complete, the scheme is expected to create more than 400 permanent jobs, alongside 160 jobs during the construction phase.

Naomi Clayton, who worked at the shopping centre before it closed, said the development was "good news" for the local job market.

"There will be job opportunities out there for a lot of people that struggle with us being a seaside town," she said.

"So, I think having something there would be good."

Parrinder, who runs Sitwell Nibbles, said he felt the town centre was "sometimes overlooked" and hoped the multi-million pound development would be "good for tourists and the local community".

"It just needs a bit of life, a bit of [an] upgrade and a bit of love," he said.

"I have been here over 30 years and I think having a proper cinema is something that has always been a bit lacking [and] a food court is good as it could be a main hub for Scarborough."

At the meeting later, cabinet members will also consider a recommended £1m grant for public realm and active travel improvements along Westborough and Vernon Road.

The investment would improve pedestrian and cycle connectivity between Scarborough Railway Station and the new town centre development.

Scarborough has been designated a priority for development following the creation of Mayoral Development Zones.

According to the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, the initiative could accelerate leisure and tourism developments and help unlock thousands of new homes.

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