New illumination attractions set to light the way in Whitby and Scarborough

All eleven Local Enterprise Partnerships from across the Northern Powerhouse Region were invited to bid for a share of the new £15m Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund, and in York, North Yorkshire and East Riding , six projects have been narrowed down to one bid to go forward. The bid chosen to go through is for “Constellations: Illuminating the Yorkshire Coast”, and it originated from the Scarborough Creative Driver Partnership, made up of a number of cultural organisations in the area.

The fund aims to create a legacy from The Great Exhibition of the North which will happen next year, and is to raise aspiration, pride and visibility as well as strengthening communities and provide cultural activity for people in places of least engagement.

Local Enterprise Partnership Board Member Richard Shaw said: “A vibrant and visible culture is critical to making a compelling case for enterprise, inward investment and for making great places – which we know the Yorkshire Coast already is – even greater. If “Constellations” captures the imagination of the Government’s decision makers for the Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund, it will give a real boost to the Yorkshire’s Coast’s economic regeneration that the area truly deserves.”

If the bid is successful, leading specialists will work with communities to develop concepts and deliver ambitious installations, festivals and temporary light sculptures for local communities to interact with.

The project also includes a business support theme, to strengthen the creative industries sector along the Yorkshire Coast in terms of jobs and enterprise opportunities - all key aims of the Local Enterprise Partnership's Yorkshire Coast Growth Plan. The installations are proposed in the following locations:

· Whitby – Old Swing Bridge/Dock End.

· Scarborough – SJT/Plantation Hill/Woodend/Scarborough Art Gallery down to Rotunda/ the seafront.

· Filey – The Brigg/New Visitors Centre.

· Bridlington – Garrison Square/North of Bridlington Harbour.

· Withernesa – Seafront lighting.

· Hornsea- Seafront lighting.