Councillors approve repair works to tennis courts at Scarborough Sports Centre despite objections

Councillors on the Scarborough and Whitby area planning committee voted to approve the works at the sports centre on Filey Road on Thursday May 9.

The plan had received 30 objections, three comments of support, and committee members also said they were worried about the provision of toilets and parking facilities.

But council officers emphasised that the tennis courts could be reopened without planning permission and that the issue of lighting was the primary consideration at hand.

A council officer said that some of the objections “require detailed examination but some of them miss the point and refer to the removal of the tennis courts which is not proposed in the application”.

Coun Subash Sharma said he was “really pleased” that the proposed hours of operation and use of lights on the site had been “limited” and welcomed the reintroduction of tennis facilities at the site.

Coun Rich Maw said the site “was once referred to as the Wimbledon of the North” and said that while he welcomed new tennis facilities, he still had several concerns about the council’s plan.

He told the committee: “It is a positive development in bringing back pay and play tennis to Scarborough which has a prestigious history of tennis playing, but I do share the concerns of the objectors and about the lack of toilet provision”.

Coun Maw added: “You’re asking people, potentially with young children, to go two and a half hours with no public facilities… I don’t think it’s been thought through.”

A council officer said that while he recognised the concerns, the application did not have scope for the addition of public facilities as a condition for approval.

The officer said: “The main reason it requires planning permission is for the lights and we should judge this application on its merits.”

Coun Heather Phillips also raised concerns about the number of cars that could be parked if all the tennis courts were in use at once.

The application proposed the creation of five parking spaces “parallel to the road on grassed verges to the south of the site.

She said: “I think there needs to be more consideration about providing more off-street parking to make that less impactful for the residents.”

However, the Highway Authority did not object to the proposal and council planning officers said “there should be a balance”

Coun Maw and Coun Sharma voted to defer the motion so the addition of toilets could be considered but their proposal was defeated.

Councillors voted to approve the lighting and repair works with three votes in favour, one against, and one abstention.