Council chief hits at ‘sacrilegious’ failure to replace beach chalets

THE LEADER of Scarborough Council has said that it would be “sacrilegious” for the authority not to even consider replacing a number of Grade II Listed beach chalets that were destroyed in a landslip.

The chalets, below the Clock Café in the town’s South Bay, have been cordoned off following the collapse of a retaining wall in March 2018 followed by a further slip in November of the same year.

Scarborough Council’s cabinet approved plans to spend almost £500,000 to demolish the chalets and repair the wall and the surrounding area in such a way so that the huts could be restored in the future if the money is found.

Council leader Coun Steve Siddons (Lab) said he could not imagine not trying to replace the chalets.

He said: “It is our heritage and in particular this block of chalets is Grade II Listed so they have been recognised as being of national importance.

“Anyone who stands with their back to the sea and looks at the Clock Café will see the beautiful shape that is created by those two blocks of chalets with the café in the middle and to consider knocking those chalets down after a really sad event, a natural event, and to consider leaving it with one half gone with grass banking in its place just seems sacrilegious really.”

“I felt, and my colleagues felt, that it was important to look at other options and when we did it became obvious that it wasn’t much more expensive than we expected. It was only a reasonable amount more money to do the job properly in my view.”

The demolition is expected to begin in the near future with the retaining wall replacement to be completed in July 2020.