GP Taylor: Seaside towns left high and dry by empty promises

Politicians of every variety promise a lot around election time and then disappear without trace once they have been elected or defeated.

Travelling to any of these places from York or Leeds is one of the most difficult journeys you can make. The A64 has a promising start with even a glimpse of dual carriageway and even if you do get stuck at York then you know not far ahead is the Malton bypass.

Not a great thought if you are trying to get away from the city on a day out and the 40-mile journey sometimes can take two hours. Believe me, I have sat on that road in miles of traffic on many occasions.

This is one of the most annoying things about living on the coast. It is a long way to any major road network.

Since I was a boy, politicians have promised to build a dual carriageway all the way to Scarborough. William Hague even told me face to face that it would be an ideal development and great for businesses on the coast. Years later, we on the coast are still waiting.

Last year I drove from London to a seaside town called Frinton in Essex. I was heartily surprised to find an amazing road network all the way to the seafront.

So why Frinton and not Filey? I believe that the answer is quite simple. The political classes are London-centric and have no real desire to truly help their voters in the north.

Even though Yorkshire has a constituency as big as Scotland, it is regarded as a province far enough away from London to be ignored.

At election time promises are made on devolution, finance and assistance for projects north of Watford and then appear to magically vanish once our votes are no longer needed.

It is a sad indictment of the political classes but I think the old adage is true – out of sight, out of mind.

Seaside towns are only 
seen by political leaders as 
places to drop into for a photograph of them eating an ice cream or talking to the dwindling number of fishermen who are having their lives stolen by stupid EU quotas.

While the cities get the political attention, the rural coast is left to its own devices.

None of the parties appear 
to have a constructive voice 
on the future of Yorkshire and 
its coast. I have been unable to find any specific policies 
directed to the people of our county.

This is the same at the local government level. Those standing for elections to our town councils seem to find it difficult to make promises on what they would like to see happen.

None of them are saying that, if elected, they would make sure the A64 has a dual carriageway to Scarborough or anything else relevant to the East Coast.

Local political parties don’t really have locally-based manifestos. Perhaps this is why there seems to be a great political apathy on the coast.

This is really surprising taking into consideration that Scarborough, Whitby and Filey have the highest level of child poverty in Yorkshire.

Where are the policies to aid the drug and alcohol problem that is self-evident on the streets? Why has there been no real explanation as to how any party is going to run the council in the face of such vast government cuts?

Local politicians know they can’t sign up to any policies to improve our communities because in reality they cannot make it happen.

What answers do they have as to why the pier bridge was never replaced at Whitby? What really happened to the failed Legoland development? When will Scarborough ever get its promised cinema? Why does the council seek to persecute residents with parking penalties as a way of raising cash for the borough? What are the development policies of any party for improving tourism and business?

It is issues such as these that voters want answers to. They no longer want promises that politicians fail to keep.

The scepticism from the public about the genuineness of the political classes is at an all time high. It is causing a growth in people disengaging from politics.

Politicians both nationally and locally are becoming seen as the Robber Barons of the modern age with only their own self-interest at heart.

It is as if they want to be elected on personality and party loyalty rather than on the substance of what they have 
to offer.

They not only forget the promises they have made to Yorkshire, but they are now failing to offer any hope for the future.

GP Taylor is a writer, and broadcaster, a former police officer and vicar and can be followed on twitter @gptaylorauthor