A new video shows what Scarborough’s proposed 650m zip line could look like in action ahead of a crunch meeting.
As part of plans for a 35m high zip line experience in Scarborough’s North Bay, the animation has been released revealing the likely appearance of riders soaring through the air on the proposed attraction.
Councillors will meet on Thursday (11 April) to decide whether the proposal will be rejected in line with a recommendation by council planning officers.
The computer-generated image clip presents a 3D visualisation of riders travelling from the former Mr Marvel’s Leisure Park to the south of the Scalby Mills Miniature Railway Station.
Big Bang Promotions’ (BBP) plans are being recommended for refusal by the council over concerns it would cause “significant harm” to the character of the area.
Video animation
At the last meeting in February, councillors chose to defer a decision to allow the applicant to amend the plan, but planning officers said that the changes did not “significantly reduce the overall visual or heritage impacts of the development”.
The proposal now seeks temporary planning permission for five years and would leave out most of the cladding from the launch tower.
‘Mark a new chapter’
James Field, owner of BBP, said he hoped the committee would “recognise the significant benefits the zip wire attraction will bring to the town and its people”.
Speaking ahead of Thursday’s planning meeting, he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “We believe this project is more than an attraction; it’s a beacon for the future, promising economic growth, enhanced tourism, and an invigorated community.”
Councillors on the Scarborough and Whitby area planning committee had described the attraction as “desperately needed” but said that changes were required to make it acceptable.
More than 170 locals wrote letters in support of the plan and more than 40 letters of objection were received, many of which raised concerns about the visual impacts of the proposal.
Mr Field added: “By approving this venture, Scarborough has the chance to lead once again in the realm of leisure and adventure, marking a new chapter in its illustrious history as Britain’s first seaside resort.”
A council report recommends that planning permission be refused because “there are no public benefits or material considerations, including the tourism benefits of the scheme, which outweigh the identified harm”.