North Yorkshire Council (NYC) divides the county up into “area commitees” for supposedly allowing local decisions to be made more local. As a consequence we have a “Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee”, every 3 months. It turns out this meeting is held in Scarborough almost always. As follows
- 2018 : 20 Jun (Scarborough), 26 Sep (Whitby), 12 Dec (Scarborough)
- 2019 : 20 Mar (Scarborough), 19 Jun (Scarborough), 25 Sep (Scarborough),
- 2020 : 15 Jan (Scarborough), 20 Mar (Scarborough), 16 Sep (Scarborough), 06 Nov (Scarborough),
- 2021 : 20 Jan (Scarborough), 26 Mar (Scarborough), 9 Jul (Scarborough), 17 Sep (Scarborough), 3 Dec (Scarborough),
- 2022 : 19 Jan (Scarborough), 16 Mar (Scarborough), 10 Jun (Scarborough), 23 Sep (Scarborough), 23 Nov (Scarborough),
- 2023 : 24 Mar (Scarborough), 9 Jun (Scarborough), 22 Sep (Whitby), 01 Dec (Scarborough),
- 2024 : 22 Mar (Whitby), 7 Jun (Scarborough), 20 Sep (Whitby), 29 Nov (Scarborough),
- 2025 : 21 Mar (Scarborough), 6 Jun (Scarborough)
In fact it was only held in Whitby 22 Sep 2023, 22 Mar 2024 and 20 Sep 2024 due to WCN taking the issue up with NYC. Sadly they subsequently decided it has to be in a venue with internet streaming, and “oh, we haven’t got one of those in Whitby, so we’ll have to hold it in Scarborough“.
We took the issue up with Cllr David Chance (vice chair of the committee) and Cllr Liz Colling (chair of the committee).
- what efforts have been made thus far and what further efforts will be made, to provide a suitable venue in the town of Whitby?
- at what point it is envisaged that there will ever be presence of this committee in one of the towns whose name is included in the title of the committee?
- if the answer to question 2 is “never”, could you please explain to the people of this town why they will not have direct access to this committee, given that there are double the national average of over 65’s who are less able to travel, and where the public transport situation is widely recognised as being utterly dire?
Whitby Community Network CIC
Cllr Chance replied (Aug 2025) as follows
Roll forward to the next meeting, and we see on the agenda the Whitby Cliff Lift as the main item. One would expect that this is a “key Whitby matter”, but then we look at the venue … oh it’s Scarborough again.
Dear Cllr Chance,
We see that the next area committee has a significant Whitby item (items 8 and 9) on the agenda.
https://edemocracy.northyorks.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=1229&MId=19397
Sadly it is being held in Scarborough, which goes somewhat against the contents of your reply.
If there was an item of pressing interest to Scarborough one could maybe understand a conflict, but for this meeting there is no Scarborough-specific item.
So we are again faced with a lack of opportunity for representation. The problem has not been addressed.
Whitby Community Network CIC
To be clear, the 2 items on the agenda at the next meeting (19/09/2025 10:00am, Scarborough Town Hall) are entitled “Whitby Cliff Lift and Access to West Cliff Beach”, and “Receipt of petition in support of the preservation of Whitby Cliff Lift”. You cannot get much more a “key issue” to the town, but NYC officers think the “and Whitby” in the committee name means nothing.
Perhaps the answer to the question of whether we will get an area committee meeting in Whitby should have been “not a Chance”?
If you do want to send a question to this Area Committee meeting about the Whitby Cliff Lift, the meeting is being held in Scarborough Town Hall on Friday 19th September at 10am. You need to submit questions by Tuesday 16th September at MIDDAY to St John Harris (stjohn.harris@northyorks.gov.uk), but typically will have to attend the meeting to ask your question.
