Runswick Bay: Seaside beauty spot car park plan criticised

A new 44-space car park would ease congestion at the popular tourist destination, landowners say

Plans to build a car park at a seaside beauty spot could risk damaging the surrounding area, objectors have said.

Landowners have applied to North York Moors National Park Authority to develop land at the top of Runswick Bay, near Whitby.

They said the scheme would provide extra parking for visitors when the car park at the bottom of the bay was full.

But a Hinderwell Parish Council spokesman said the location "would damage the local environment".

The plan for the 44-space car park, which also included proposals for a cafe, was "not suitable for any development", they said.

There was no need for additional car parking space at the former fishing village, the council said, adding that it had received a large number of objections to the application.

The land, which sits at the northern edge of the North York Moors National Park, is part of the Mulgrave Estate owned by the Marquis of Normanby.

Objectors to the proposed scheme say the area already has enough parking space available

Planning documents submitted by the estate said the current car park in Runswick Bay was frequently full.

That meant drivers instead parked their vehicles on the road down the bank near the car park, or along Hinderwell Lane and Ellerby Lane, they added.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, further objections were raised by Yorkshire Water and by the national park's conservation officer, who said there was already enough parking in the area.

The park authority's archaeologist said "an abundance of caution" would be needed in developing the site as it included a former fougasse mine - which is a hole where petrol was buried during World War Two, to be exploded in the event of an invasion.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water said plans to plant trees to screen the development could "seriously jeopardise" its ability to maintain the public sewerage network.

A spokesperson for the North York Moors National Park has said due to the "high number of objections and no letters of support", a decision on the scheme would not be made by the planning committee, but would instead be delegated to the director of planning.