Waterpark could be sold in regeneration plan

A popular waterpark in Scarborough could be sold to a new owner as part of a plan to regenerate the town's North Bay, councillors have been told.

North Yorkshire Council took control of Alpamare, in Burniston Road, following the collapse of the site's developer in 2023, and it was reopened in summer 2024.

The authority was examining the site's possible freehold sale as an operational waterpark as part of what was known as a "request for proposal" that had been issued to five specialist leisure agents, a meeting heard this week.

Last month, the council said that "all options" were on the table for the site.

Alpamare reopened in July 2024 under the operators of Flamingo Land in Malton, which secured a contract to run it for 12 months, with an option to extend its lease.

The waterpark's current lease is set to expire at the end of October, and Flamingo Land had been told the council was "exploring future options for the asset, including a potential disposal", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A "range of options" were being considered due to Alpamare's "strategic location within the wider North Bay regeneration area", this week's meeting of the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee was told.

Councillor Liz Colling, the committee's chair, said that leisure agents had been invited to present potential strategies for the site.

She told the committee that the request for proposal would "focus on a freehold sale of Alpamare as an operational waterpark".

However, offers could incorporate vacant development plots within the North Bay area if it would support Alpamare's "long-term financial viability and contribute positively to the wider leisure and entertainment offer", she added.

While the future of Alpamare was considered, Flamingo Land would operate it for the remaining term of the lease, with the potential to extend it further until a decision was made, the meeting heard.

The attraction opened in 2016 with the help of a £9m loan that was granted by the now-defunct Scarborough Borough Council to developer Benchmark Leisure Ltd.

But the developer went into administration in October 2023, leading North Yorkshire Council to take possession of the site.

Last year, a fact-finding review by the council's auditor concluded that the decision to grant a loan to Benchmark Leisure Limited was "undoubtedly risky".

In 2024, the council did not rule out subsidising the waterpark in the longer term.

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