Whitby’s historic Cliff Lift has been out of action for maybe 3 years now. Communication from NYC has been non-existent regarding this vital part of the town’s infrastructure.
A Freedom of Information was recently submitted.
Please can you define
- the cost estimate for repair of Whitby Cliff Lift?
- the alternative mechanisms considered to a straight replacement lift to permit disabled public access to Whitby sea wall and beach?
- the annual cost of the replacement bus service?
- whether the free minibus service will run for 2025-2026 and onwards?
- if the cliff lift will not be replaced and there will not be a free minibus service whether NYC considers that it meets the terms of the Equality Act 2010 in providing suitable access to the sea wall and beach area?
and the reply from NYC
- In 2022 the estimate of cost to restore the lift to working order was £400k including replacement lift car and mechanisms, remediate internal staircase, electrical rewire etc. However, please note restoring the lift to working order does not address the issue causing the problems which is water ingress and ventilation. The cost now including solving these issues is estimated at over £1m.
- The only alternative mechanism considered is a replacement bus service.
- The cost of the cliff lift replacement is £345 per day. For the 2024 season running from 01 May until 29 September, this is a total of £52,440.
- At this time, we are unable to confirm future plans for the replacement minibus.
- A full Equality Impact Assessment will be included as part of any future decisions on the cliff lift and other options. This will assess the impacts upon different communities to ensure these are fully considered as part of the process, and that our duties under the Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty are being met.
In conclusion, in 3 years, seemingly nothing has been achieved regarding providing for the role of this infrastructure. No alternative solutions have been considered. One could be forgiven for thinking that this council simply couldn’t care.
