East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s cabinet has agreed to award a contract for the extension and partial refurbishment of South Cliff Holiday Park, and work on the site will begin imminently.
The contract worth approximately £7.75 million is for a scheme to create an expansion of the park on to the adjacent agricultural land of the Wilsthorpe Estate.
Owned by the council, wehn complete it will create 31 additional pitches for tents; 15 new units for ‘glamping’ (or ‘glamorous camping’); 48 additional touring pitches; 132 additional static pitches; and 19 additional lodges.
There will also be new toilet blocks and new office accommodation for the staff at the site (with up to five new jobs created), and a new area for meeting and greeting arriving customers. The investment will be paid for from the new income and profits generated from the expansion.
The tender includes an Employment and Skills plan, to ensure that local opportunities for training and apprenticeships are created. The work should see a number of new apprenticeships and a number of unemployed people progress into employment. It will also give work experience placements to local residents.
The contract for the work has been awarded to Interserve Construction Ltd, based in Castleford, West Yorkshire, an award winning national contractor. Following the award of the contract, initial site surveys have begun, and the main construction works are planned to start on site next month.
The popular caravan park currently has nearly 800 permanent static caravan pitches, 160 touring pitches, 20 tent pitches and 12 fleet hire caravans for holiday letting. The occupancy of these pitches is very high – the permanent static pitches operate at 100% capacity, and some pitches could be sold several times over during the season. The council’s management of the site – which generates an operating profit for the authority – was recently highly praised by independent consultants.
The expansion of the park will also provide a boost to the wider Bridlington economy, as it is estimated that an additional 158,280 visits will be made to the town each year. This is estimated to increase visitor spend in the wider economy by around £4.2 million per year.
Councillor Symon Fraser, portfolio holder for strategic asset management, housing and environment, said:
“I am delighted that, as well as creating new jobs on the site, we will now be able to greatly increase the number of people coming to stay in Bridlington and spending their money in the town and surrounding area, which will be a huge boost to the local economy.
“Given the continuing success of Bridlington Spa, and the refurbished Sewerby Hall and Gardens, as well as East Riding Leisure Bridlington , there is a great deal for visitors to see and do. This newly expanded site will bring in a new wave of customers for all these facilities, as well as the town’s superb beaches and seafront, and for its restaurants, bars, shops and cafes.”
The new developments will be built in two phases, with full completion of the whole scheme scheduled by Spring, 2019, weather permitting. The refurbishment of the existing park is scheduled to take place between November, 2018, and March, 2019.
The site is located near the A165 into the town, and is close to Bridlington Park and Ride and Land Train service. The site also boasts the Makis Leisure Complex, a mini-market and a takeaway fish and chip shop, and is open from 1 March to 2 January each year.
Archaeological investigations on the site of the expansion were carried out between November, 2017 , and April, 2018. Archaeologists are now carrying out analysis of their finds.
