Whitby town poll to ask questions about Whitby Town Deal projects and council resignations

The questions to appear on the poll, which has come about as a result of discussions at the two recent Whitby Town Assemblies, are:

1. Should the present members of Whitby Town Council resign en masse to facilitate the democratic election, by ballot, of a fully mandated representative town council for Whitby?

2. Should Whitby Town Council petition the Department for Levelling Up, Homes & Communities (DLUHC) to halt and re-examine, the Whitby Town Deal Board project to regenerate the Market Place and to restrict the project to the renovation of the Old Town Hall?

3. Should Whitby Town Council petition the Department for Levelling Up, Homes & Communities (DLUHC) to halt and re-examine, in consultation with Whitby residents, the Whitby Town Deal Board project to build a Maritime Training Hub on Endeavour Wharf?

With regards to question one, town councillors and residents gave the motion the green light at a town assembly earlier this month.

The motion, put forward by Coun Robert Barnett, asks: “Should the present members of Whitby Town Council resign en masse to facilitate the democratic election, by ballot of a fully mandated representative Town Council for Whitby?”

A town council election was held in May 2022 with several uncontested seats but some residents have said that holding new elections is necessary because of April’s local government reorganisation.

However, other councillors have objected to the poll and the costs associated with holding the proposed elections, with one member criticising "pointless and irrelevant motions".

The second and third questions originated from residents, from a perspective of the lack of consultation of the Whitby Town Deal process, and how poorly some projects are considered to be providing for the town's residents needs.

Campaigners Whitby Community Network (WCN) wrote to the Whitby Town Deal board, flagging up concerns – on the subject of the proposed Maritime Hub, the group said many residents have no awareness of what this will mean for the town, what it will look like and what the impact will be on the historic harbour area.

In addition, WCN says the proposal was to build this “significantly challenging” engineering project, on a level three flood plain, on land which is currently the subject of an ongoing legal dispute regarding ownership.

The group added that proposed changes to the historic Town Hall on the Market Place provide an example of “a flawed consultation exercise”, in that it disproportionately included tourists and visitors and excluded residents.

In the letter, it states: "As a minimum, this needs to be repeated to truly consult with those who live and work in Whitby.

"Clearly, tourism is now a key industry in a town such as this and it is vital that residents are not overlooked in key decisions.”

Electoral service say that polling takes place between the hours of 4pm and 9 pm only, that poll cards are not being issued to electors and that there are no provisions for any form of absent voting (postal or proxy voting).

The polling stations that have been booked for the poll have where possible been those that are usually used for voters within the entire Whitby Parish area.

Visit https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/your-council/elections-and-voting/parish-polls for information on parish polls.