With 4 projects from Whitby Town Deal not yet completed, we prompted the Town Deal board into providing an update. It is as follows
Broomfields Farm Low Carbon Housing Development
After some early setbacks, the Broomfields Farm project is progressing well. Brierley Homes have been identified as a delivery partner and are working to develop the scheme. Brierley Homes have designed the new housing scheme based on 49 homes which provides a more spatial layout for the site. The homes will be 100% affordable net zero homes with higher specification insulation resulting in greater CO2 reductions. These homes will only be sold for full time occupation and will not be sold to the second homes or holiday let market. Each home will have a secure cycle storage along with an EV charging port and triple glazed windows. They will also have Photovoltaic Panels and Air Source heat pumps.
A Project Adjustment Request will be submitted at the end of June to the Department of Levelling Up for approval to the alterations to the project. The adjustments have been agreed and supported by the Whitby Town Deal Board.
Full planning permission will be required for the site and is expected to be submitted in September 2024. The project is due to start on site by March 2025 with works completing by the summer of 2026.
Whitby Harbourside Public Realm and Pedestrianisation
NYC will carry out a final engagement exercise on the technical design for the Public Realm and Whitby Swing Bridge pedestrianisation scheme in July. Final amends are being made to the designs in preparation for this public consultation.
Contract award approval will be required for public realm works and the procurement route for the works is being investigated with a view to issuing the tender in the Autumn.
Work to the Spital Bridge junction traffic signals will start in September 2024 with expected completion being December 2024.
The works to the Swing Bridge area public realm won’t commence until after the completion of the signal updates at Spital Bridge.
Whitby Maritime Training Hub
The Whitby Maritime Hub planning application is still live for public comment and is on track for determination in July 2024. Wilmot Dixon have been contracted to deliver 2 stage tender Design and Build contract. RIBA Stage 4 has commenced with the final report also expected in July 2024.
Work is ongoing by NYC officers to establish the operator model with a Community Interest Company (CIC) operating model being explored. Unfortunately, Whitby Fishing School have informed NYC they are no longer considering a tenancy for the Hub.
NYC’s property service continues to engage with commercial agents who have direct links to the maritime industry to attract potential maritime focused tenants for the building.
Expected start on site is September 2024 with a program completion date of October 2025
Whitby Old Town Hall and Market Place
Tender returns for the construction work on the Old Town Hall are currently being evaluated and it is expected the contractor will be appointed by the beginning of July. The tenders are slightly over budget so Align Property Services (project consultants) will work to verify costs and value engineer where required. As soon as the contractor has been appointed for the Old Town Hall, communications will be issued with regards to the start on site date, expected programme of works and relocation of Whitby Market to the Dock End / Quay Road area. Practical completion target remains March 2025.
Future management and operation of the building needs to be agreed. A partnership approach is being explored with Whitby Town Council to deliver a shared vision.
We wrote asking for clarification on the Low Carbon Housing scheme etc, and received the following reply
Broomfields Farm Low Carbon Housing Development
- What is the breakdown of affordable homes (social rented, low cost to purchase)?
The homes within the Broomfields Farm low carbon housing development will be 50% social rented and 50% shared ownership.
- Will purchased homes be truly affordable for local people/keyworkers only, eg providing a 40/50% reduction for the UK Gov First Homes scheme?
Social rented homes are below market rent.
For the shared ownership homes, these will be market value but prospective buyers are able to purchase between 25% & 75% of the home (increasing the % they own over time if they wish to do so) and thus require a smaller deposit to get on the property ladder. The remaining share of the home is rented and is based on social rent.
- Will they be “affordable” in-perpetuity?
The homes will always be social rent/shared ownership.
- Why has the number of homes been reduced from 60 to 49 homes? Is it due to the cost-to-develop compared to when the money was allocated?, and could utilising terraced-style housing ensure more local housing is made available?
The number of homes was reduced from 60 to 49 due to Local Plan policy which sets a benchmark of 30 dwellings per hectare. The homes also have to meet Nationally Described Space Standards (NDSS). Given the location of the site and its surroundings, pre planning guidance advised that a scheme with a concentrated number of homes giving an ‘urban’ feel would be unsuitable for the location.
- Will effluent plant and flooding issues be addressed prior to this housing being progressed? particularly considering that these problems are still persisting now, going on for 2 years after start of the Abbey View site alongside.
The issues relating to flooding with the Phase One development have been flagged with the developers responsible for delivering Phase Two. They will revisit the flooding impact assessment to ensure the attenuation basin is adequate for the Phase Two development.
Whitby Old Town Hall and Market Place
- With all tenders coming in over budget, will NYC finally consider the approach of omitting the infamous “plinth” / “apron” (via a Project Adjustment Request presumably?), and with that come in within budget, and generate an amount of “good will” in the process?
The tenders for the Old Town Hall project are marginally above budget. The NYC project team have previously considered the scope of the Old Town Hall project and made changes to the proposals, but agreed at that time to retain the extension to the undercroft based on the benefits it provides.
The NYC project team will continue to review the project and its scope before works commence.
A project adjustment request would be required if any changes implemented affected the outputs of the project and put before the Town Deal Board for approval.
One thought on “Whitby Town Deal : Status Report June 2024”
any thought about placing / building multi storey car parks in carparks behind and beyound co-op referring to the pedestrian plans, from the swing bridge towards the taxi area and co-op roundabout ,the changes to be done where no traffic at all to have access …
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