Whitby Cliff Lift Could be Repaired, But at What Cost?

A series of reports in to the state of Whitby's Cliff lift all say the facility could be repaired.

North Yorkshire Council's executive committee will consider a recommendation to permanently decommission the lift next month, after a report suggested it could cost £5.5m to reopen, it's been closed for three years.

The council's Head of Harbours and Coastal Infrastructure - Chris Bourne - says three inspections of the lift have taken place.

"The facts are there have been two surveys of the Cliff Lift and one site visit by Anglo-American, and all of the findings are very largely the same.

The survey by Borough Council in January, 2020 identified significant corrosion and water ingress in the shaft, and that was the report that subsequent resulted in the closure of the lift.

The survey by align property partners in January, 2025, identified that the lift shaft was showing water ingress generally across the majority of the joints.

The high level review by Anglo-American in June, 2025 noted that the shaft was relatively dry with no significant water ingress and expressed the view that the main source of water is due to moisture accumulation related to a lack of ventilation.

Their high level view also noted the poor state of the lift equipment, the staircase, and the top building as well.

All the reports agree that the lift can be repaired and put back into working order.

The only difference really between the reports is on the source and extent of water ingress."

Whitby’s Cliff lift, on North Terrace, was opened in 1931 and consists of a lift within a vertical shaft running down from the cliff top through the boulder clay, leading to a 221ft long pedestrian tunnel out to the beach. The lift was closed in April 2022 when corrosion was discovered in its structure. For the last three years the borough and then unitary council have run a free subsidised bus service over the summer to replace the lift

North Yorkshire council's executive will consider a recommendation to permanently decommission the lift at a meeting next month.

The report says repairing the lift would cost £5.5m, decommissioning it would cost around £230k. It says:

"A steady increase in water ingress is causing corrosion of the structure. There is no easy solution to prevent this. Water ingress also causes more frequent renewal of operational parts to lift car and mechanisms. Some parts are required to be renewed annually due to this.

The top station building needs structural remedial works as there is cracking in the brick pillars, and the roof is bowing in places. The lifting gear is within the top station so would need to be removed or protected in situ before any repairs could take place.

A new ventilation system needs to be incorporated within the facility to reduce the humidity.

The total cost of reinstating the lift to working order and addressing the water ingress was estimated by Scarborough Borough Council in 2020 to be £4.58m. Using RICS Building Cost Information Service indices for inflation, that cost now in 2025 would be £5.51m (+20.3%)

It is noted that the bulk of the £4.58m estimate is a provisional sum for waterproofing (probably backwall grouting) and that would be subject to further detailed surveys and an in-depth feasibility study before accurate costings could be compiled. However, advice was sought from a specialist company to inform the provision sum so this does give an anticipated order of cost that could be expected for that solution."

Chris Bourne told a meeting of local councillors that there are tough choices to be made.

"Really the question for the council relates to the risk of water ingress, what does the council want to do about that?

My personal professional view is it will be futile to repair the lift and bring it back into working use without addressing that water ingress problem, that would be a total waste of public money.

So I think at the very least, if the recommendation from this committee to the executive is to repair the lift, then you need to have consideration that you need to do further surveys, that will take time, and that they will cost money.

Alternatively, you could decommission the lift using any one of the Align property recommendations. And I think there were four recommendations that they made that would, of course, give more cost certainty in that you would be spending public money, but you would have a definite outcome , to that."

Historically the cliff lift provided a link between the town, and the car park on West Cliff, to the beach and it's chalets. The cliff lift closed in 2022 and since then a shuttle bus service has been running to carry passengers from the top of the lift to the beach.

Chris Bourne told local councillors that if the lift were to be permanently closed then there would been to be a study done into the impact of the closure on equality of access.

"On the side of that then is the council's public sector equality duty. And if the council and the executive were to decide to decommission the lift, then the council will have to consider its its duties under that act. And do a full equality's impact assessment to make sure it receives the necessary legal advice and, takes those obligations into full consideration"

Local councillors on the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee are recommending that A decision about the future of Whitby's Cliff lift should not be made without further surveys of the lift shaft and a full public consultation.

Over 5,600 people signed a petition over the summer calling for the lift to be saved, councillor David Chance says that represents nearly a third of the town's residents.

"Over 5,000 people signed the petition. That's over a third of the number of population of Whitby, so that is a sizeable petition. It's touched every household."

The full report to councillors can be seen at https://edemocracy.northyorks.gov.uk/documents/s56892/Whitby Cliff Lift Options.pdf

A decision is expected at the Executive meeting on October 21st.

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