Councillors have welcomed a report into potential options for economic development on the Yorkshire Coast including investment in the offshore wind and renewable energy sectors.
Scarborough and Whitby councillors have said that an “excellent” report looking into offshore economic opportunities could present important new pathways for economic opportunities over the coming decade.
‘Beyond the Shoreline’ was commissioned last summer by the Scarborough and Whitby Area committee which endorsed a project to explore the scale and nature of offshore economic opportunities available for the North Yorkshire Coast.
Speaking at a recent meeting, Coun Neil Swannick, Whitby Streonshalh division, said: “I think it’s an excellent report and it’s opening up opportunities for Scarborough and Whitby, which present the possibilities of a new economic development beyond the limits of tourism, and I think that’s very, very good.”
This report aimed to identify facets of the maritime industry relevant to future economic development along the coast and concluded that while the potential for the economic development of the North Yorkshire coast is significant, it exists within a small number of specific and limited niches.
A shortlist of sectors suggested for investment and cooperation include servicing and maintenance, the offshore wind industry, fishing, leisure and tourism, and ‘niche and emerging opportunities’ such as aquaculture, or unmanned vessels.
Coun Phil Trumper, Whitby West division, said: “I think it’s a great report and it highlights so much opportunity in our harbours, which the report captured.
“There’s an opportunity for our harbours in the next 10 years and we should be pushing forward.”
According to the report, the potential of offshore economic activity presents a “valuable opportunity for growth and economic resilience” but adds that “this potential must be approached with the subtlety and nuance required for successful economic development in such challenging geographies”.
It notes that in particular, offshore, there is a growing presence of work boats such as crew transfer vessels (CTVs) and the UK’s “leading CTV operator is headquartered in Scarborough”.
Over the last decade, there has been a “rapid growth in the use and need for CTVs to service wind farms”.
At the meeting on June 6, a council officer also revealed that North Yorkshire Council was in the process of agreeing to a “draft memorandum of understanding with a CTV operator and we’ll shortly be sitting down with them to see how our infrastructure can support them”.
The officer added: “The goal of that memorandum of understanding is to understand overlap in their needs and what we can offer.”
Chair of the area committee, Coun Liz Colling, Falsgrave and Stepney division, said: “The single biggest realisation I had while reading this report was how relatively small Scarborough Harbour is and how much we want out of it, and we want everything out of it.
“We want a thriving fishing industry, we want the leisure industry, the marina and the crafts, and we want the new emerging industry.”
The report concluded: “If North Yorkshire Council uses the next five years to invest in core infrastructure, staff knowledge and positioning, there will be long-term benefits across a range of sectors – these actions are aimed at facilitating future development.”
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