Scarborough North Bay water park plans submitted

The water park would be built in Scarborough's North Bay as part of the £150m Sands complex

Plans for a water park attraction as part of a £150m leisure complex have been submitted to Scarborough Borough Council.

The park would form part of the Sands development in Scarborough's North Bay.

Developers Benchmark Leisure delayed plans for the water park in October 2009, blaming the economic downturn.

Tom Fox, Conservative leader of Scarborough Borough Council, said the planning application was "absolutely fantastic news" for the resort.

The water park, which would be open throughout the year, includes pools, hot tubs and restaurants.

Mr Fox said the planning application for the water park phase of the development was "overdue, but it was not deliberate".

"I think some people have forgotten that we've had a recession," he said.

If given the go ahead, it is expected the park could be open as early as summer 2013, two years after the entire Sands project was due to be completed.

The Sands centre was originally meant to be developed in three phases.

The first phase - the construction of apartments, beach chalets, a beach management centre and a cafe - is already complete.

Northallerton-based Benchmark had intended for revenue from that phase of the project to fund phase two, an open air theatre.

However, not all the apartments were sold as expected which affected funding for the rest of the project.