A decision on the proposed decommissioning of Whitby Cliff Lift will be deferred until next year.
North Yorkshire Council has confirmed that it will not be making a decision on the permanent closure of the ‘iconic’ Cliff Lift in Whitby this year.
In recent months, the authority had faced mounting pressure from residents and visitors over its proposal to decommission the site – which has been closed since 2022 – with a public petition to save the lift gathering more than 5,600 signatures.
Alison Hume, the MP for Scarborough and Whitby, as well as local councillors, had urged council bosses to conduct further investigations into the state of water ingress and corrosion, which first led to its closure.
Coun Phil Trumper, who represents Whitby West Cliff and started the public petition, described the decision as “good news”.
“NYC has accepted the recommendation from the area committee to invite Anglo American to make further investigations into the water ingress over the winter period,” he added.
“The decision about its future will now be made at the executive in March 2026.”
The council’s executive committee was due to make a decision this autumn on officers’ recommendations to permanently shut the historic cliff lift due to the apparently high cost of repairs.
Reinstating the lift to working order and addressing the water ingress could cost £5.5 million, the council said, and officers have recommended decommissioning the lift and removing the top building at a cost of £232,000.
Last month, the cross-party Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee voted near-unanimously to oppose the proposal, with councillors casting doubt on the accuracy of the cost and calling for a more thorough analysis to be conducted.
A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Council confirmed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that it accepted the area committee’s recommendation to invite Anglo American to make further investigations into water ingress.
The mining company has helped the council assess the current condition of the lift, but councillors said that, as a site visit took place during a dry summer, a comprehensive assessment should also include evaluations in the wetter winter months.
The area committee also called on the council to hold a public consultation on the future of the Cliff Lift, which was opened in the 1930s, but the council has not said if this will take place.
The fate of the free replacement bus service is also currently unclear, as North Yorkshire Council has said the budget for its operation and the reserves from which the costs were funded have been “fully utilised”.
The cost of operating the subsidised bus service in 2024 was £52,440, or £345 per day, with average daily passenger numbers varying monthly between 11 and 33.
The new deadline for the council’s decision on the future of the Cliff Lift is March 17, 2026.
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