Coastal walking track £700,000 upgrade approved

There are spectacular views of the Yorkshire Coast from the Cinder Track

Part of a popular walking route along the North Yorkshire coast is to get a £700,000 upgrade, after councillors approved the plan.

A 1.4 mile (2.3km) stretch of the Cinder Track, which runs between Scarborough and Whitby, is to be resurfaced in order to make it more accessible.

The stretch from Burniston to Cloughton will also get new benches, picnic tables, way finders and bins.

Councillors at the Scarborough and Whitby area planning committee unanimously voted to approve the scheme, subject to conditions, on 9 May.

Plans to upgrade the track had previously been deferred due to concerns over accessibility.

At the meeting last week planning officers said the track was already “accessibility compliant”, but the new work would see the access ramp “upgraded and resurfaced to make it more of an even slope” and would “enable all-year use of wheelchairs and pushchairs”.

Councillor Heather Phillips said she was “confident" the work would assist but said she still had “concerns about the other side of the road”.

She told the committee it was “one of the most inaccessible spots in all of North Yorkshire… but I understand there are deadlines for the funding to be used so I wouldn’t want to delay the works any further”.

The Cinder Track was previously a coastal railway line that ran from Scarborough to Whitby.

The railway was in use from 1885 to 1965 when it was closed alongside roughly 5,000 miles of track and more than 2,300 stations following the Beeching report.

The route is now a multi-use path which forms part of the national cycle network and European North Sea Cycle Route.