Scarborough Sea Swimmers Get Support for Outdoor Tidal Swimming Pool

Plans to build an outdoor tidal swimming pool in Scarborough have received enthusiastic support from councillors, marking a significant step forward for the ambitious community-led project

The Scarborough Safe Sea Swimming Project, spearheaded by local campaigners, was endorsed by the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee on Friday.

A feasibility study, commissioned by North Yorkshire Council and completed by outdoor swimming specialists and RIBA Chartered Architects Studio Octopi, was presented to councillors. 

Proponents of the pool emphasise the benefits it would bring to the town and swimmers. While sea swimming is popular year-round in Scarborough's South and North Bays, it carries inherent risks such as tides, currents, disorientation, and cold-water shock, making it inaccessible or potentially dangerous for many. Cold-water swimming is rapidly growing in popularity due to wide-ranging health benefits, but a tidal sea pool would offer a much more reliable and safe place for swimming or splashing about without these issues.

Karen Chiverall from the Scarborough Sea Pool campaign says there would be benefits for the many established swimming groups along the coast in Scarborough, Whitby, and Filey,

"We want a sea pool back in Scarborough again. We really feel that it would be a huge benefit to the town and to people who enjoy or want to try sea water swimming, relatively safely without being exposed to riptides, and also, for it to be a facility that's that's useful to people who are into sports type swimming.

The design that we've got shows that there could be a 50 meter area. That could be used for triathlons, open water swimming events, which sometimes you can't reliably put on because of tidal conditions or, stormy seas or strong currents and things like that. "

The feasibility study examined different potential locations across both bays before identifying an area at South Cliff, near Children’s Corner, as the preferred site. The site benefits from being well-positioned within the town, with good proximity to hotels, housing, and existing access points like staircases and the Cliff Lift from the elevated promenade. The study said that the imminent demolition of existing buildings at Children's Corner offers an excellent opportunity for future development to support the pool.

Scarborough Councillor Rich Maw is backing the scheme, he feels the Children's Corner location brings a number of benefits.

"This scheme has looked across both bays. It's looked at different areas. It's landed on an area which is an area of South Cliff that needs some regen. And and if we were able to pull this together, if the CIC group can procure the funding working with the council and actually get this three sided swimming pool in place near Children's Corner, that will attract residents, swimmers, but it'll also attract tourists to the area.

And naturally you'll find that if there's tourists there, then people will want to put trading stands there and you might be able to see, the whole area improve and hopefully a full region of that side of Scarborough.

So it's a winner on all accounts "

The proposed design is a three-sided pool open to the top of the beach, allowing sand to run into the pool to create a fully accessible facility. This design creates a sheltered beach and bathing area, particularly enjoyable for children, close to the colonnade. The pool could also include a 50-meter area suitable for triathlons and open water swimming events, which can be unreliable to stage in the open sea due to tidal or stormy conditions. The design incorporates different zones within the pool to ensure accessibility and confidence for all users, including those with mobility needs.

Reaching this stage has occurred more quickly than campaigners initially expected, with the support from the council described as "phenomenal". The next stages involve the community group working through the development process and potentially forming a Community Interest Company to move the project forwards.

Karen Chiverall says they being realistic about timescales, she says it could take up to ten years to realise the project fully.

"Speaking to regen officers and speaking to the architect that did the feasibility we're expecting four to eight years, or five to 10 years. So a kind of medium to long term.

We never expected to get to this stage so quickly and to have that support from the council to get to this stage has been phenomenal.

Absolutely fantastic for them to have the creativity and the vision to get us to the feasibility study at this point.

So we'll just keep on because, it's, it has unlocked , lots of feedback and enthusiasm from all over the town and further afield."

Securing capital costs for a new tidal pool is acknowledged as challenging, with potential funding routes including local authorities, Sport England, Levelling Up funds, and crowdfunding, among others. Annual maintenance costs are also a consideration; the feasibility study references Bude Sea Pool in Cornwall, which has an annual maintenance budget of around £20,000 for tasks like maintaining structures and emptying the pool of sand and rocks.

Despite the expected medium to long-term timeline of four to eight years or five to ten years, Karen says the group remain dedicated, taking small steps forward.

"We'll get to the end of each week and have achieved something, like even just setting up a website and that would be, a big achievement. So we'll just take it, like I said, small steps and just see what's possible.

As I said, nothing venture, nothing gained has always been a thing.

And we think Scarborough without a sequel is like fish without chips. "

The feasibility study report can be seen at https://edemocracy.northyorks.gov.uk/documents/s53323/275_ScarboroughSafeSeaSwimming_StudioOctopi_DRAFT_310325_A 1.pdf