Greening of town centre starts

Planters for trees, new benches and wayfinding points are installed using Towns Fund cash

The regeneration of Scarborough’s high street has begun as new planters which will soon house saplings were installed.

The arrival of the planters was part of a Scarborough Council-backed scheme to give the town centre a green makeover to help with its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dozens of trees are to be planted along Westborough and Newborough in order to create a more attractive and enjoyable space to encourage people to visit when life returns to some kind of normality.

New benches have also been installed.

The project, which also includes new digital wayfinding signs and a wayfinding app, has been paid for using money from the Government’s Towns Fund, which gave £20.2m and £17.1m to Scarborough and Whitby respectively last month.

In a post on its Facebook page announcing the arrival of the new planters the council wrote: “In the coming weeks these huge, shiny planters will be filled with soil and tree saplings planted as part of a ‘green makeover’ of Scarborough town centre and to make it a more pleasant place to visit and spend time.”

The schemes were devised by Scarborough Borough Council, Scarborough Town Centre Team and Scarborough Town Deal Board after a small amount of the Towns Fund money was released to the authority in December.

Cllr Liz Colling, Scarborough Borough Council cabinet member with responsibility for inclusive growth, said the makeover was vital to the town. She said: “It’s essential we invest in ways of helping local businesses bounce back strongly as we emerge from the grips of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We want to encourage people to come to the town

centre, its local shops and attractions, and engage with their surroundings.

“By planting new trees in the middle of Scarborough, providing more seating, signage and digital connectivity we hope to boost footfall and give people a reason to visit.”

The saplings to be put in the planters are set to arrive in the coming weeks.

Scarborough Borough Council). (Photo: ABOVE: From left, John Senior (Scarborough South Bay Traders), Charlotte Hanson (English Heritage), Adrian Riley (sign designer) and Richard Grunwell (Scarborough Town Centre Team) beside a new wayfaring sign BELOW: Two of the huge new planters in the town centre.