Community Rallies to Secure Future of Overdale Site as £3 Million Fund Faces ‘Use It or Lose It’ Deadline

A passionate, three-year campaign to transform the derelict former Overdale school site into a much-needed community park is reaching its crucial phase, as local residents in Eastfield are urged to show their support to secure vital funding before a looming deadline in December.

The campaign, initially championed by the Eastfield Residents Association, seeks to utilise £3 million ring-fenced for Eastfield—money raised from the sale of local housing land. Organisers warn that if this capital is not allocated to the project soon, it risks being diverted elsewhere.

A Race Against Time and Developers

The old Overdale School site has stood empty since 2021 and was hit by an arson attack in 2022. Demolition of the buildings finally commenced on 20th October and is scheduled to continue into Spring next year.

According to Carol Smith, Secretary of the newly formed Phoenix Community Park Charity, the urgency lies in committing the available funding before the site becomes vulnerable to residential development.

"Housing contractors weren't interested while the buildings are up because the demolition is costing a lot of money. But once it's demolished, which will be spring next year, then the housing developers will start sniffing around basically. And we certainly can't do with more houses. We've got hardly any infrastructure as it is at the moment. We haven't even got a doctor's surgery," 

The project has reached a critical juncture, with North Yorkshire Council (NYC) scheduled to make a decision regarding the use of the £3 million fund on 16th December.

Ms Smith outlined the situation regarding the money and the project's readiness:

"We've been working hard for the last 3 years to get a community park built on the old Overdale school site. Demolition of the site began a couple of weeks ago and now we need to move the project forwards.

We've formed a separate charity called Phoenix Community Park and that allows us to apply for bigger funding pots and a board of trustees to oversee the project.

There's £3 million from the sale of housing land which is ring fenced for Eastfield and that's more than enough to pay for the whole project and North Yorkshire Council are taking a decision on what to do with that money on the 16th of December.

And if it's not spent in Eastfield, it will go elsewhere. So, we need to use it or lose it, basically."

The money was originally secured from the sale of land for new estates and is held in abeyance by North Yorkshire Council from "Scarborough Borough Council".

A Vision for Unity and Facilities

To push the scheme forward, the Phoenix Community Park CIO, a charitable organisation, was established, with volunteer trustees overseeing the park's development and future management. The charity has conducted extensive public consultations, completed a feasibility study with outline designs, and carried out environmental surveys.

The proposed park aims to tackle the current lack of local facilities and unify different parts of the area.

The plans include transforming the old nursery building into a cafe and community hub, along with a range of recreational facilities such as inclusive play areas, a pump track, landscaped gardens, and a concrete skate park, which youth surveys indicated they would like.

The trustees are hosting a drop-in event on Saturday, November 22, from 11 am to 3 pm at St George’s School, Overdale (YO11 3RE). Visitors will be able to review the detailed plans, discuss the vision with trustees, and meet representatives from the police, local schools, and community organisations.

Ms Smith highlighted the profound need for the new facilities and the unifying potential of the site:

"We have no pub in Eastfield, we have no cafe in Eastfield. There's no facilities whatsoever.

So, we're hoping to refurb the old nursery building as a cafe and a community hub. We've done surveys where the youth would like another skate park, there used to be a metal skate park at Pindar School. We're hoping to build a concrete one on this site and then a playground for the kids and something for everybody. Landscape gardens, you name it. And we want to do it because it's quite a big site.

We want people to come along to this drop in event, have a look at the plans, talk to the trustees. The police will be there because they back the plan, the local schools will be there because they back the plan.

We want them to come and vote for yes or no for the park basically cuz if we don't use this money now, then we're never going to have that money again for Eastfield."

The Phoenix CIO is also actively seeking volunteers, specifically those with legal or management experience, to join the board of trustees, as well as individuals with building experience to oversee the refurbishment and construction.

Carol says the space is intended to bridge social gaps:

"If anybody fancies joining the trustee board, we need people with legal and management experience cuz we'll need a project manager to see the plans through and build the refurb of the nursery and do all that. But we've got plans in place. We just need someone that can oversee it who's got building experience.

We're all volunteers and we're doing it because we want to do it. We want to see something for Eastfield. And it'll be for the older and the younger and it'll join hopefully both communities because at the moment we've got a divide between the new estates and the old estates. So we're hoping to have a through path via St. George's School which adjoins the site so that people can walk through and have a wander around and take the dog and sit and have a natter, go in the cafe. It's just to join the communities together really."

Public Support Needed to Push Project Forward

Organisers emphasise that despite having the plans, feasibility studies, and costings completed with the help of North Yorkshire Council, the final hurdle is demonstrating overwhelming local support to elected officials.

A spokesperson for Phoenix CIO stressed the importance of community engagement:

“We’ve come this far, and now we need the wholehearted support of local residents to make it happen. Please come along to our drop in event and cast your vote because without you, it may become just another housing estate".

Ms Smith acknowledged that public awareness remains a challenge:

"North Yorkshire Council are paying for the demolition work, but they've also got this money from Scarborough Council held in abeyance for Eastfield for the sale of land for the new estates that we've got. So, there's £3 million sitting there waiting to be used in Eastfield.

And we've got this project ready to go. We've got the plans done, we've had the feasibility study done, we've had the costings done with all of the help of North Yorkshire Council, and now we need to get the support of local people to come and vote for it to be done to carry it forwards.

It seems that not a lot of people in Eastfield actually know that this is on its way and what they need to do to support it."

The trustees are hosting a drop-in event on Saturday, November 22, from 11 am to 3 pm at St George’s School, Overdale (YO11 3RE) where they hope to show the "high level of support from the police/schools/community groups and local residents". Councillors from Eastfield Town Council have been invited to the event to see the plans for themselves and hear residents views on the plans.