Concerns have been raised about plans to build an electricity sub-station at the end of Scarborough’s West Pier as part of a wider redevelopment proposal.
Fresh concerns have been raised about the £20.2m scheme for Scarborough’s West Pier redevelopment because of the risk of high tides and increased flood risk caused by climate change.
The plan was postponed last year after members of the strategic planning committee said they wanted more details about economic impacts and drawbacks.
The multi-million pound redevelopment of the West Pier has faced opposition from residents and local activists over fears that working fishermen and other maritime industries are being overlooked in favour of tourism.
Recent stormy weather on the coast has renewed concerns about a proposed building at the end of the pier, which would house four retail kiosks and a store, together with new public toilets, welfare facilities and an electricity sub-station.
Guy Smith, a former councillor on the now-defunct Scarborough Borough Council, said it was “a totally ridiculous location to consider siting a new electrical substation”.
Last week, Mr Smith, who is also an active member of the United Scarborough residents’ group, filmed a video of the West Pier being battered by waves and strong winds.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS):
“The video shows the sea drenching the RNLI station, and the combination of electricity, water and boat fuel in a building adjacent, do not make very good companions,”
“This was from a tide that was not previously predicted to be as high.
“These patterns of higher seas are becoming more frequent in my opinion and the video shows the strength of the flow, potentially causing damage to property.”
However, council planners have said that the sub-station proposal is a “reasonable proposition”.
In an extensive report presented at a meeting last year, officers noted that
“the development would provide wider sustainability benefits to the community to outweigh the flood risk, and it will be safe for its lifetime, taking account of the vulnerability of its users, without increasing flood risk elsewhere, and, where possible, will reduce flood risk overall”.
They added that
“there is already a sub-station on the pier providing a power supply for its users and that this apparatus is essential”.
One of the objectors to the wider redevelopment, the owner of a licensed fishing vessel, raised similar concerns last year.
In a letter to the council, an agent representing the owner of the fishing boat said:
“In relation to waves impacting the lifeboat station and West Pier, another point to consider is the position of the proposed new electricity substation, toilets and kiosks.”
The letter adds:
“Notwithstanding the above examples, my client advises that the issue of seawater impacting West Pier is not straightforward and depending on weather conditions, the result can be different, i.e. it is difficult to predict when overtopping events will occur, which clearly increases the danger to people on the pier.”
However, North Yorkshire Council’s report concludes that the
“wider sustainability benefits of the scheme are contingent on there being a reliable electrical supply, and in the view of officers this is a reasonable proposition”.
According to officers, the existing equipment is
“at the end of its operational life and does not provide a reliable supply”.
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