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Councillors have approved the construction of two new bars at the Open Air Theatre in Scarborough despite concerns about an impact on wildlife in the area.

The venue is set to have two new bars, including a VIP area, as part of a planned expansion of services at the venue.

On Thursday, May 11, The Scarborough and Whitby area planning committee approved the scheme for the new 15m long, flat-roofed permanent bar buildings which will be located at different sides of the Open Air Theatre.

One of the bars will include a rooftop ‘VIP’ viewing area enclosed by railings and will see the filling in of a pond to the north of the existing audience standing area to facilitate its development, with the infilling finished in tarmac.

Large crowd at Scarborough Open Air Theatre, watching Sir Tom Jones.

However, concerns were raised that the body of water which will have to be filled in is likely to be home to the protected great crested newt.

Cllr Rich Maw, who voted against the plan, said: “We shouldn’t just be building over sites like this and I’m quite surprised that the ecologist’s report seems to think it’s okay to do so.

“So, I’m really sceptical as to whether or not to proceed with this until we find out at the end of May where we are with this and what the numbers are, and what the numbers are in the other areas locally.

“Otherwise, we might find that we’ve cleared the whole area of them.”

See all the 2023 acts at Scarborough’s The Open Air Theatre

A council planning officer told the committee that the ecologist’s report “does recognise other sites as being preferable habitats for great crested newts” and added that the site being lost was “not a gold-standard habitat”.

A report prepared for the meeting states that the applicant, North Yorkshire Council, has “committed to undertake a ‘population survey’ to confirm great crested newt (GCN) presence at the end of May”.

However, it notes that “it is reasonable to progress on the basis that GCN will be found in the pond to be infilled when the May survey is undertaken

The planning officer added that the council ecologist had also recommended a condition requiring a construction management plan.

Cllr Heather Phillips said: “Is there not another pond or wetland area that is fenced off around 20 metres away?

“There’s no chance of that getting developed so if our little newt friends turn up, we could possibly direct them towards that?”

A planning officer confirmed that the authority’s plan “is to translocate the newts to a better habitat” which is “pretty much surrounded by water”.

The committee approved the plan, subject to various conditions, with one vote against the scheme.

Scarborough’s Open Air Theatre: council approves plan for new bars despite concern about newts