Yorkshire Water's £120m Investment To Tackle Scarborough's Bathing Water Quality

Yorkshire Water's Bathing Water Manager says he is excited by a £120 million investment plan aimed at reducing storm overflow spills and improving water quality in Scarborough.

Yorkshire Water's Manager of Strategic Partnerships for Bathing Water has expressed his excitement regarding the significant level of investment the company is directing into Scarborough to tackle the town's poor bathing water quality.

The comments come following a presentation to local councillors in which Yorkshire Water outlined its ongoing commitment to improving the local infrastructure through a £120 million investment programme specifically for Scarborough under its AMP8 investment plan, which runs from 2025 to 2030.

The firm aims to reduce spills and improve bathing water quality, which is a pressing issue given that Scarborough South Bay currently holds a 'Poor' classification, while Scarborough North Bay is rated as 'Sufficient'.

In the wider area, bathing water quality varies. According to the data presented for the 2024 to 2025 period, Whitby, Cayton Bay, Reighton, and Sandsend all achieved an 'Excellent' classification. Filey and Runswick Bay were rated as 'Good', while Robin Hoods Bay matched Scarborough North Bay with a 'Sufficient' grading.

Miles Cameron, Manager of Strategic Partnerships for Bathing Water at Yorkshire Water, addressed the scale of the financial commitment.

He said:

"It is the by far for the whole industry in Yorkshire, the biggest level of investment in the industry in 25-30 years we've ever seen. That is really, really positive. Now, some of you may say, well that's too late. Some of this stuff should have happened many years ago, however, it's happening and it's a fantastic, fantastic thing in terms of infrastructure.

For Scarborough, for helping support bathing waters across Yorkshire. I'm really excited about this. I think this will be a fantastic catalyst for the town as well."

The £120 million allocation for Scarborough is part of a wider £238.5 million investment spread across Scarborough and Whitby, covering 54 separate projects. Furthermore, these local improvements fit into Yorkshire Water's broader £8.3 billion regional investment strategy for the next five years.

Key projects in the Scarborough area include major upgrades to the town's storm overflows, with the utility actively focusing on reducing spills from five key overflows to directly improve water quality in both the North and South Bays. Upgrades are already being carried out at key combined sewer overflows, including completed works at Wheatcroft to reduce discharges into coastal waters.

The coastal programme also highlights a dedicated Bridlington Programme, which includes investments at combined sewer overflows on Bessingby Road, Hilderthorpe Road, Limekiln Lane, Sands Lane, Springfield Avenue, and St Annes Road.

Alongside wastewater improvements, the investment plan includes a £16 million drinking water service reservoir at Springhill. A contract has been awarded to build a new drinking water storage facility adjacent to the existing site, which will secure long-term water resilience and allow the retirement of older infrastructure when construction begins in 2027.

Mr Cameron also noted that while the current plan covers the next five years, future investment strategies are already being developed in collaboration with regulators.

He said:

"There's a significant amount of investment of over 350 million across a number of sites, particularly in Scarborough, but I'm not ignoring the fact, particularly on the Esk and inland, there's an awful lot of investment going to reduce those spills.

This program is just a five-year program. We get into a period already now, working with the regulators to look at the program from 2030 beyond, and it's already looking like that program will be even bigger again, which is great news. In terms of investment, it's going to be another sizeable program."

To shape how the £120 million investment is delivered, Yorkshire Water is currently running a public consultation exercise. The first phase of the consultation runs until the 30th of June.

According to the firm, reducing reliance on combined sewer overflows through surface water separation, network improvements, and investment remains a major priority to protect public health and the environment along the Yorkshire Coast.

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