Long-running Scarborough charity’s plan to demolish headquarters
A long-running North Yorkshire charity’s premises could be demolished and replaced with a modern facility.
The Rainbow Centre at Castle Road in Scarborough wants to demolish its current site and construct a purpose-built three-and-a-half-storey facility, including a charity shop.
The charity has been supporting vulnerable people in Scarborough for more than 29 years, helping the homeless as well as those in crisis from its base at Parish House, adjacent to St Mary’s Church.
The centre has expanded into other corners of Parish House, has erected an outbuilding to facilitate a food bank and has attempted to squeeze additional space out of its limited area wherever possible, but has reached a “breaking point”, according to submitted proposals.
“Due to the constraints of the space it occupies, the ever-increasing demand for its services and the ageing nature of the building, the charity is struggling to maintain its standards of operation.”
The Rainbow Centre makes around 12,500 critical interventions annually, offering assistance to vulnerable people facing difficult circumstances.
The new Rainbow Centre has been designed to accommodate all client and service provider requirements and the scheme would see the demolition of the existing building and its replacement with a new purpose-built facility with a 484sqm ground floor footprint and an overall area of 1,110sqm across three and a half storeys.
The development would include large outdoor spaces that are rich in biodiversity and which can be enjoyed by all clients and members of the community.
“The existing under-utilised garden spaces will be replaced with a carefully considered landscape that maximises the area whilst retaining the existing mature tree located on the east of the site,” the plans state.
At a meeting of Scarborough Town Council’s community and place committee on Wednesday, April 29, councillors said they supported the scheme which is currently being considered by the local planning authority.
North Yorkshire Council has not set a date for deciding on the scheme.