Parking – Whitby Community Network CIC

NYC Parking Strategy Mitigation for Endeavour Wharf utilisation?

Andy Jefferson — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 11:28:08 +0000

North Yorkshire Council (NYC) recently announced that, to facilitate the construction of the Maritime Hub for Whitby Town Deal, “As a result the Endeavour Wharf car park will be closed from 31 March. Operational harbour access will be retained for permit holders. Alternative parking is available in Langborne Road“.

This prompts more questions than it answers. Endeavour Wharf car park has 250 spaces. This closure is for 13 months. The “alternative car parking” mentioned are simply the Marina Front/Back/Users Car Parks. These car parks are often full, so how the 250 spaces from Endeavour Wharf are being provided for with this “alternative” parking we are not sure.

In the NYC Executive meeting for this project it was claimed that the loss of parking spaces “would be alleviated through the increased use of park and ride“. Given that Park-and-Ride is pretty much at capacity, how there is “increased use” is not defined.

With this in mind we asked the NYC Head of Parking Services (Steve Brown), as follows

Good morning Steve,

back in September (2024) you came to one of our Whitby Community Network public meetings and mentioned that the coast (Whitby and Scarborough) would be a top priority for long awaited parking reviews. Your council is at the point of closing a 250 space off-street car park in Whitby (250 spaces out of the approximately 2000 spaces available) for more than a year and this is going to have a major impact on parking here. Residential areas are already besieged by tourists parking outside homes for many months of the year, and this is only going to go one way.

Do you have a mitigation plan for this closure, in terms of where people will be directed and where any extra space is located?
Do you have timescales when we get this (long awaited) review?

Regards

Whitby Community Network CIC

It has to be said that the impact here is not just the 250 spaces, but also the fact that the Harbourmaster “stores” as well as crab pots have been moved (from Endeavour Wharf) to the Harbour Back/Users car parks so there are also lost spaces on those car parks.

It has to be noted at this point that Whitby Town Council (WTC) voted to support the planning of the Maritime Hub on the condition that extra car parking was provided elsewhere to compensate. Has it been? Or has NYC simply ignored the condition?

With Endeavour Wharf closed from 31st March 2025, we sent a further email.

Steve,

Given that the closure of Endeavour Wharf parking is now coming in and we have not had a reply regarding what is the adopted strategy of North Yorkshire Council with regards to mitigation, we feel that some points need making.

Whitby Town Council gave their support to the construction of the Maritime Hub on Endeavour Wharf on the express condition that “due to the loss of car parking spaces, Park and Ride provision should be extended and/or alternative parking should be developed elsewhere within the town to mitigate the loss”.
The report for the planning approval for the Maritime Hub stated “10.3 the whole of Endeavour Wharf car park will be closed to the public for the duration of the construction. This will reduce the number of off-street car parking spaces in Whitby by 250 (from a total of approximately 850). This will result in an income loss at the site of approximately £650k over the course of construction. Not all of this income will be lost to the council – some will be displaced to other car parks within Whitby, subject to capacity. It may be possible to put on a shuttle bus from the Abbey Headland car park, for example – it is estimated that this could cost in the region of £150-175k for the duration of the construction.“
During the NYC Executive meeting for approval of this facility the exec member for Harbours said that NYC “intend to make good on the loss of parking by making greater use of the park and ride service“.

The following points need making

Without an additional amount of car parking, the concerns of Whitby Town Council will have been ignored.
Existing (off street) car parks in Whitby are (already) full for many months of the year.
Park-and-Ride is likewise fully utilised during many months of the year.
cars that cannot get in to off street car parks will end up parking on residential streets, causing further disruption to residents. We really do not want to go back to the photos reported to Karl Battersby et al some time back when emergency vehicles would have been unable to get to several parts of the town due to such on street parking (and that was with Endeavour Wharf car park offering nearly 250 spaces).

A viable parking strategy is urgently needed irrespective of this closure, and a mitigation plan is needed due to this closure.

Please advise.

Whitby Community Network CIC

And shortly after we had a reply

Thank you for your email, I do recall my visit to your meeting on the 16th September last year along with Richard Marr. As I recall I told the meeting that a Parking Principles document was being written, this will form a framework from which new policies can be formed without the need to keep changing already established items etc. That document has been written, but I am sure that you can imagine the vast complexities that this great county presents when trying to establish something that works for everybody, it is nearly there, and I expect that it will get its final hearing soon. The promise that Whitby and Scarborough will be the first to be assessed has not changed and as soon as practical it will be but the main points that I have taken away or gathered are:

Parking Capacity – Whitby has 1936 parking spaces currently plus some greenfield ‘overspill’ sites that are weather dependant. It is accepted that 250 spaces at Endeavour wharf will be lost during the Maritime Hub phase and to mitigate this an additional Park and Ride site will be established at Abbey Headland from the Spring Bank Holiday until the end of summer. This bus service is provisionally set to run approximately every 30 minutes during the running periods. Customers will be expected to pay to park, and the bus will be free. This service will remain under constant review during the operating times and can potentially be adjusted to suit dependent upon demand. About 100 spaces at Endeavour Wharf will be lost to the Maritime Hub when handed back as a public car park thereby reducing overall parking capacity in Whitby to 1886 spaces. Part of the consultation that will be carried out with the stakeholders will be suggestions regarding additional capacity amongst a raft of other parking related items.
Residents Parking – At our meeting last September and subsequent correspondence from various sources a concern in the Whitby community is that residents are competing with Tourists for space. This is not uncommon in North Yorkshire, particularly in the coastal areas. As part of the parking review in Whitby, Residents only parking in some areas may be a possibility along with other residents parking schemes that are currently being considered and will be brought to the table for debate when the time comes. There are many components to the residents parking issue that include air B&B’s, guest houses, HMO’s all who are competing for kerb space and have to be considered as well.
Camper Van Parking – This thorny issue is of course well known and again there is a contrast of opinions as to what can or should be done about it. The council is currently running a trial with an emergency TRO (ETRO) which has been put in at specific sites and after a set period of time the Council will evaluate the effectiveness of the scheme and what comes next.

To summarise. The plans for the Park and Ride to supplement the loss of parking provision to the Maritime Hub build is at an advanced stage and will be in place to start at the Spring Bank holiday. The Parking Principles and subsequent local action planning will also start hopefully in the summer and be assured that it is progressing as fast as we can given its complexity. The ETRO for campervan parking is in full swing and we will see how that progresses as the coast starts to ramp up for summer. A short email for a big subject but the truth is that there is progress being made and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Steve Brown

Head of Parking Services, NYC

We thanked Steve for his reply, and raised the question of viability of access to the Abbey plain area, with Green Lane already being at capacity, and the only other route in being via Hawsker Lane – this to be taken in the context of 80+% of the net influx in to Whitby being from the Teesside / Pickering side.

We also had a reply from the local NYC councillor, Neil Swannick after bringing it to his attention, as follows.

Thank you for bringing the plans for a temporary Park and Ride facility on the Abbey headland to my attention.

For me, like you, the proposal raised a number of questions and I requested a meeting with the Head of Parking.

The meeting with relevant officers and Cllr Trumper, finally took place last Thursday in Whitby.

Whilst broadly in support of the idea of a plan to deal with the impact of the temporary closure of Endeavour Wharf to parking during the Maritime Hub construction, Phil and I were able to raise and have answered a number of questions relating to the operation of such a scheme.

We discussed the question of available space at the Abbey Headland car park, the use of Green Lane for traffic and buses, the signage necessary for vehicles arriving via the Guisborough Road, and the improvements that need to be made to the walking route down the steps at Caedmon’s Trod. Officers agreed to take these issues away for further investigation.

I hope that the contribution of our collective local knowledge will improve the scheme and minimise disruption for residents. I am also hopeful that consideration will be given to my idea for a bus stop for residents on Green Lane which might provide evidence for a more permanent service.

Cllr Neil Swannick

Campervan / Motorhome Parking Consultation

Andy Jefferson — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 07:13:39 +0000

In November, North Yorkshire Council (NYC) brought in an experimental Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for 3 areas of the Yorkshire coast. One of these areas is Sandsend Road. During the first 6 months of this order they are running a consultation on what people think of it.

You can find the consultation HERE.

Whilst it is all well and good commenting on this very specific measure and area, it would be wise to look at the bigger picture. If campervans are prohibited in other areas, they will likely only go to the areas with no such restriction. How are campervans / motorhomes handled in other parts of the country, so we can see what other types of measures are being used? Here we present three such measures.

York Council (City of York)

The scheme set up in York is as follows

Car/Coach parks: cannot park motorhomes, most car parks have height barriers preventing access for larger vehicles.
Park & Ride sites: have designated areas for motorhomes/larger vehicles (check the opening times), overnight parking is not permitted.
On-street parking: Limited number of large on-street parking bays at specified site(s), payment by Pay-By-Phone service.
Overnight parking: Overnight motorhome parking can be booked via The Caravan Club.

Fylde Council (Lytham St Annes)

The scheme run by Fylde Council is as follows

Daytime: Motorhomes can park on any long stay or designated short-stay car parks, paying for number of bays occupied.
Overnight (7pm and 9am): Overnight parking at designated car parks, dependant on vehicle’s maximum length, for 48hrs maximum, parked in a designated motorhome bay only.
Car Park Facilities: do not offer any additional facilities. Designated sluice unit (no water supply) for use by motorhomers (cost £1.00), with one 20 minutes free designated parking bay.
Horse Boxes: allowed on designated beach/car park, must display valid permit (£20/annum) & pay and display car park ticket for each bay used. Permit enables Council to check appropriate third party liability insurance available. Whitby – for fishermen/jet skies/beach huts etc for access to lower prom?

Torbay (Torrington, Bideford, etc)

The scheme run in Torbay area is as follows

On-street Parking:

Vehicle must fit entirely within the bay markings, must not overhang any part of the bay or walls, promenades & other land.
Vehicles are not permitted to use multiple parking spaces even if more than one pay and display ticket or parking session is paid for.

Pay and Display Tickets in Car Parks:

Must purchase a pay and display ticket for each of the bays occupied & must not overhang the bay markings.
Vehicles overhanging any part of the bay markings, or failure to display the correct number of tickets will result in the issue of a Penalty Charge Notice.

Overnight Use

Overnight sleeping in vehicles or camping is not permitted, nor is the heating, cooking or preparing of food.
Suitable camping and caravanning sites across the bay with full amenities are available – see website.
Designated car parks available for campervans to park between 6pm to 10am, cost £11-£15 per night/per bay, maximum stay 2 nights in any location.

All users of campervans are not the minority that deposit human waste down drains, just like all dog owners aren’t the ones that don’t pick up. Wouldn’t providing a system that facilitates the responsible owners without inconveniencing people who live here (together with suitable enforcement on the ones that aren’t responsible) go a long way towards overcoming the problem? This would also bring in money that could be used to improve the area.

The issue of campervan / motorhome parking is much bigger than Sandsend Road. There are major problems on Upgang Ravine. There are major problems in residential areas of Whitby. There are also problems on parts of West Cliff, and in other car parks such as Abbey. A complete system is required not just a sticking plaster that makes it go elsewhere.

Why not provide designated places for overnight parking?

Why not provide marked bays for parking so then a fair system is in place for charging for parking where a motorhome is taking up the same space as 2 normal sized cars?

Why not provide designated sluice tank locations (to use for a fee)?

What do you think?

Please do fill in the NYC consultation, and have your say on what the system for the whole of this area be, not just Sandsend Road.

Parking : Letter to NYC

Andy Jefferson — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 08:39:24 +0000

Parking issues have not been tackled in Whitby for many years, with the promise of a parking strategy review being made every year since 2018, but no action resulting. With this in mind, as well as recent events, we have written to NYC regarding the problems, and the need to address them with some urgency.

To: Barrie Mason (NYC, Highways and Transportation, Parking Services, Street Scene, Parks and Grounds)

Cc: Richard Flinton (NYC, Chief Exec), Karl Battersby (NYC, Director of Environment), Cllr Keane Duncan (NYC, Exec Cllr, Highways and Transportation)

Dear Barrie,

I write on behalf of Whitby Community Network, an issues-based open group, that seeks improvements for those who live and work in Whitby and the surrounding district. As such, we work towards providing residents with what is needed for this community to be sustainable and a place where people want to live, work and bring up families, not solely a retirement and tourist destination.

We wish to bring some matters to your attention regarding parking within the Whitby parish. We understand that these fall into your remit; should there be a more appropriate colleague who is handling the specifics, please do forward this.

Tuckers Field (West Cliff Car Park)

Scarborough Borough Council (SBC), for many years, utilised land on West Cliff known locally as “Tuckers Field” for overflow car parking (200 spaces). North Yorkshire Council are continuing this trend (and indeed your website does not even mark the use of this green space as overflow any longer, as if it is for everyday use).

We wish to inform you that your use of this land is actually contrary to the purchase of the land by the tax payers of the Whitby parish, under the Public Health Acts 1875-1925. The land is solely held in trust on behalf of the rate payers of this parish, and the land was purchased for recreational open space for the public. Parking of vehicles is not recreation. To see the physical impact that this is having on the land here is a recent photo of the consequences of such a policy.

The other impact is that residents of this parish already have below the minimum requirement of green space for their recreation before we take into account misuse of this land, with the consequential impact on public health. Coastal communities like this already have lower life expectancies than the rest of the county, and this will only be exacerbated by the current practice. We were led to believe that correcting such aspects of deprivation was going to be a priority for NYC, see a report by your own Director of Public Health.

With that in mind, we request that you make steps to end the practice of utilising Tuckers Field for car parking. Indeed, continued use of this green space for parking will be viewed as an abuse of the trust in which the land is held.

Parking Strategy

The last week has seen the usual swamping of the town with tourists, serving, once more, to highlight the complete lack of a viable parking strategy for the town. Mass tourism has rendered whatever purports to be a “strategy” to be not fit for purpose.

Car parks were overflowing, resulting in parking throughout many residential areas in the whole town to the detriment of the quality of life for residents. The above photo shows parking along a significant length of Hawsker Lane, with such a quantity of vehicles that if an emergency had been declared in the vicinity of Whitby Abbey, there would have been massive delays in attending, with potential impact on life. Parking enforcement was absent. There appears to be little contingency planning taking place for major events like Goth Week, and it is the resident who has to face the consequences of this dereliction of responsibility.

A new Parking Strategy for Whitby was promised by SBC / NYC back in 2018, 2019, 2020 and every year since. It never happened, with broken promise after broken promise. Yes, we know that there is work towards a new Local Transport Plan, into which we have fed a significant amount of information. However, judging by the scope of the 2016-2045 Local Transport Plan, this will only provide macro level direction, and the related countywide parking policy will apparently take 12-18 months. We have been informed that alongside the parking policy NYC will be commencing development of parking strategies for larger towns like Whitby (answer to a question at NYC Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee, Sept 2023). We respectfully suggest that a parking strategy for Whitby is of the highest priority, and is seriously impacting on the quality of life of residents of the town. Please advise what are the timescales for resolving the problems with the currently deficient strategy.

The final point to make is that the situation with vehicle parking in this town is due, in a large part, to the failed public transport strategy for this part of the county, with utterly inadequate train services, appalling bus services, and a complete lack of investment in active travel. Lack of activity in resolving that area will also, in time, lead to the consequential failure in any climate strategy.

On behalf of Whitby Community Network, I request that you review the parking strategy for Whitby with some urgency to ensure that local interests are front and centre of the strategy being utilised. Thank you for your assistance in this important matter.

Yours faithfully,

Whitby Community Network

We have since had a very prompt response from Karl Battersby, NYC Corp Director of Environment, as follows.

Good morning and thanks for the letter.

We do recognise the issues which you highlight, and now we have a head of service for parking in post (Steve Brown) we are moving forward on a County wide parking strategy. This will not be a one size fits all approach, but will recognise that each area has its own issues and challenges which need to be addressed. The aim is to have the strategy agreed within the next 9-12 months. We would very much value your views on how the local strategy, and I will ask the team to make sure you are involved at an early stage.

In terms of Tuckers Field, we will look into the legal issues which you have highlighted and come back to you.

Regards.

Karl Battersby

We have now replied to NYC, requesting that an urgent assessment of the problems from the last weekend takes place to ensure that it does not happen again.

Thank you Karl for your prompt reply, much appreciated.

We certainly welcome the news that there is now a head of service for parking in post, and that the work on the parking strategy will be tailored to localities.

That said though, you are talking about the longer term strategy, and in the meantime we have to manage the reality of the situation “on the ground” as it were. Over the weekend, and particularly since sending our email, we have been approached by many people with different perspectives but all with a common message – what happened with parking over the weekend cannot be permitted to happen again (social media has ample examples). People who drive emergency vehicles noting that if they had had to drive such a vehicle along Stakesby Road, Green Lane, Larpool Lane, or many other roads at the weekend extremely serious consequences could have arisen very easily. People remarking on the utter absence of coning of areas to attempt to protect the safety and integrity of the town. It was almost like there had been zero planning of such an event like Whitby Goth week coinciding with school half term. We strongly believe that lessons should be learnt from such incidences, and while they can ultimately feed in to the longer term parking strategy for the locality, they should also impact on other significant tourism events in this area. Will such discussion and analysis take place?

Regards

Whitby Community Network

Green Space : Parking is NOT Recreation

Andy Jefferson — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 18:05:07 +0000

North Yorkshire Council (NYC) is not in beneficial occupation of Tuckers Field on West Cliff. NYC solely holds the land in trust on behalf of the ratepayers of the Parish of Whitby, who paid for its purchase. Tucker’s Field area was purchased in 1927 by Whitby Urban District Council (WUDC), and it was done in two parts and under the Public Health Acts 1875-1925 to provide recreational open space for use by Whitby residents and visitors.

For many years Scarborough Borough Council abused this trust by permitting its use as “overflow” car parking, and this is being continued by NYC. The photo above shows the result of this abuse, with significant degradation of the surface, meaning that its use “for recreation” will not be possible for some time. This situation is the result of an unwillingness to provide adequate car parking in out-of-town Park-and-Ride facilities, and represents gross dereliction of its duties; NYC councillors should be utterly ashamed. This is just the tip of iceberg in parking, with major problems in various other parts of the town, exacerbated on busy weekends.

We call on NYC to respect the trust, and the original purpose that this land was purchased for, and prevent future car parking on it. This should be one key conclusion of the long awaited car parking review for Whitby, which has been promised by that council since at least 2018.