THREE organisations in Scarborough are celebrating after securing Arts Council funding for the next three years beginning 2012/13.

The funding, which was announced yesterday, has been made available for the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Crescent Arts and the National Student Drama Festival.

Crescent Arts will receive £70,000 each year, which is 58 per cent up on last time.

Director Stuart Cameron said: “It’s really the difference between us being able to survive in the long term or not.

“It’s a huge vote of confidence in what we’re doing here.”

He added that he believes Scarborough as a whole had done very well for arts funding, saying: “It absolutely demonstrates a recognition of what is happening with the arts in Scarborough and the fact that they want to keep that going.”

The money will go towards supporting and promoting contemporary visual arts in Scarborough and beyond.

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A Scarborough street is bucking the recession blues to herald a retail renaissance.

Bar Street – once called Scarborough’s answer to York’s Shambles – has battled against shop closures and falling sales to regain its status as a thriving thoroughfare.

The street recently welcomed new outlets including Guitar Galleries and the Little Fruit Shop to bolster trade alongside more established businesses such as Boddy’s Cafe and Via Herba.

During the height of the credit crunch, the street – home to several privately owned businesses – saw traders move on as profits declined.

However, the area is now beginning to shows signs of financial fruition, a fact testified by Tracy Harrison of the The Little Fruit Shop who said business had been brisk since moving from their long-familiar stall in Westborough in October last year.

Read more at Scarborough Evening News

SCARBOROUGH’s historic Futurist Theatre could receive coveted listed status next month.

Government bosses are currently poring over the venue’s application as the campaign to resurrect the building grows in stature.

However, plans to introduce a charitable trust to oversee the running of the theatre remain deadlocked - with efforts to rectify the situation hamstrung by financial constraints and a key decision on land surrounding the Foreshore Road building.

The situation will be discussed by Scarborough Council officials next week.

But Patricia David, who set up an alternative task group alongside Diane Tasker and Colin Bainbridge into the Futurist’s ultimate continuation, said the delays in effecting any changes was frustrating.

She said: “There has been a massive log jam for listing applications and the earliest a decision will be made is next month.

“But English Heritage have been very helpful in finding out what stage the application is at and how long it could take.

“We are all extremely hopeful over listing.”

Read more at Scarborough Evening News

SCARBOROUGH is braced for an Easter gathering of thousands of scooterists for a national rally.

The rally was previously held in Scarborough in 2009 and 2007 and a number of events will take place at the Spa Complex.

And Scarborough Castle Coasters Scooter Club, in association with the Yorkshire Scooter Alliance, has organised several events throughout the Easter weekend at Vivaz in Huntriss Row.

Club treasurer Mandy Lorains said that they were expecting thousands of scooterists to head for the Yorkshire coast from across the country and even Europe. She said: “I can’t wait. The atmosphere is really good and everybody knows everyone else.”

The highlight of the weekend will be a mass rideout on Saturday, April 22, from Weaponess Car Park to the Newlands Pub. In previous years it was estimated that about 3,000 riders took part.

Read more at Scarborough Evening News

MUSIC, light, lanterns and gigantic creatures from the darkest of prehistoric ages got the weekend’s Coastival arts event off to an eye-catching start.

And with top acts such as The Levellers and comedians Jon Richardson and Shappi Khorsandi, organisers were hoping to build on the success of the original event two years ago.

Festival organiser Wendy Clews said that she was impressed with the opening parade which was a “breathtaking” sight.

She said: “So many children and their families were there and The Levellers was a brilliant gig to kick things off.

“It’s the first gig they’ve done this year and they were quite nervous about it doing those songs for the first time. They were excited and a bit nervous.

“They had a great time and they said that they definitely want to come back to Scarborough on their next tour.”

Wendy added that the festival was a “bit different” and organisers had tried to develop it from lessons learned during the first one in 2009.

Read more at ScarboroughEveningNews.com

WORLD-class artists have been lined up to perform at the Open Air Theatre over the summer.

Rumours have been circulating that Apollo Leisure, the company which runs the Open Air Theatre on behalf of Scarborough Council, would no longer be managing the venue.

However, Scarborough Council leader Cllr Tom Fox said yesterday that there is absolutely no truth in the speculation.

He told the Evening News that he expects an impressive summer programme to be announced within weeks.

Mike Nuttall, director of Apollo Leisure, also dismissed the rumours.

“Apollo are well advanced with their forward programme,” Cllr Fox said.

“They are engaged with some brilliant acts and people will be very impressed if they come off.

“I would love to say who they are but I can’t disclose which artists they are talking to for contractual reasons. Some of them are out of this world.

“I am expecting something official to be announced later this month.”

Read more at Scarborough Evening News

SCARBOROUGH could face a financial penalty unless more empty homes are brought back into use councillors have been warned.

The issue was raised at a meeting of Scarborough Council’s Projects and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Committee members were considering the council’s new Empty Homes Strategy 2001 to 2015.

The report revealed that in 2009 there were 1,869 empty homes – approximately 3.4 per cent of the total housing stock – and 702 of those had been empty for longer than six months.

John Burroughs, the council’s housing strategy and development officer, proposed that specific empty homes should be brought back into use and the outcome could affect the New Homes Bonus.

He said: “The bonus is supposed to act as an incentive to local councils to increase housing supply and included in that is empty homes.

“It’s about the overall number of empty homes and if we are able to reduce that figure we would get a bonus.

“However, if the converse happens, that negates the New Homes Bonus. There’s a clear need to take a proactive approach to this.”

Read more at Scarborough Evening News

A CONSULTATION period on plans for two separate supermarket developments in Scarborough has been extended to the end of next month.

A consultation period on plans for two separate supermarket developments in Scarborough has been extended to the end of next month.

Tesco and Assura Properties have submitted plans for a supermarket in Dean Road and Sainsbury’s has proposed an expansion of its Falsgrave store.

The extended consultation period will now allow the views of those people who attend an urban area forum meeting specifically about the Tesco plan – organised in conjunction with the urban space group – to be taken into consideration.

Pauline Elliott, Scarborough Council’s head of regeneration and planning, said: “Any written comments we receive before the consultation deadline will be included in the reports that will be considered by councillors when they come to take the decisions on the two supermarket planning applications in April.

Read more at Scarborough Evening News

AN AWARD-WINNING Scarborough businessman is frying high after one of his fish and chip shops was named the best in the UK.

Matthew Silk, twice winner of the Scarborough Evening News Fish and Chip Shop of the Year competition, is celebrating after Fish and Chips at 149 in Bridlington, which he runs with business partner Tracy Poskitt, battered the opposition at the 23rd annual National Fish and Chip Awards.

Mr Silk opened his first chippy in Newlands in 1997 before moving to Crossgates in 2004 and opening his shop there. He is also a director of Silks in Castle Road, which opened in 2008.

Viat Scarborough Evening News

AN HISTORIC pleasure steamer has been saved after being sold to Scarborough MP Robert Goodwill.

MV Coronia – which helped to evacuate 900 stranded allied troops from the Dunkirk beaches during the Second World War – was impounded and its skipper Tom Machin was threatened with legal action over a dispute relating to an unpaid repair bill.

But, speaking exclusively to the Evening News, Mr Goodwill revealed that he had stepped in a bought the vessel as both an investment and to make sure that it stayed in the town.

The MP said: “I am now the proud owner of all 64 shares in MV Coronia and there is a long-term contract to lease it back to Tom Machin.”

He added that it marked the start of a very good working relationship. “I’ve a great affection for the Coronia – the vessels history and maritime heritage – and I can remember the old Coronia going out from Scarborough when I was a child,” he said.

Read more at Scarborough Evening News