Sponsored by
Beach chalet hire is set to increase
THE cost of renting beach chalets in Whitby will go up by as much as £43 a year, Scarborough Council has revealed.
The increases have come about as the council feels it underpriced chalet rentals last year.
Charges for other amenities will be frozen if the council ratifies a report to be presented to the authority’s tourism and leisure committee on Thursday.
Charges for cliff lifts will also mostly remain the same, although the price of a weekend conference lift ticket is to go up by 20p.
The council says the Government’s two-and-a-half per cent reduction in VAT until the end of 2009 has been taken into account in setting the new charges.
The report, by Andrew Williams, the council’s leisure and community services officer, adds: “Some charges have remained at the 2008 season level as officers consider that further increases are likely to have an adverse effect on attendances and income.”
The only area in which significant increases are planned is in the fees for the hire of beach chalets.
In Whitby, the annual hire charge for a standard chalet will increase by 43 to 373 and weekly lettings will go up from 19 and 62 to 23 and 70 in off-peak and peak periods respectively.
Daily lettings will also be subject to an 80p increase.
Brian Bennett, head of tourism and culture, said: “In arriving at the proposed charges for the seasonal services the council considered a number of factors, including market forces and the need to raise funds to meet budgetary requirements.
“The report recommends many fees to the customers do not increase from last year’s level, including those for the single trip and weekly tickets for council operated cliff lifts, tennis courts, mini golf/putting, boating activities and hire of deckchairs.
“However, the long waiting lists for the use of beach chalets are an indication that the 2008 charges were below the market value.
“Over 80% of chalets are used by those paying for the full season and their proposed increases are between 7.21% and 9.86% of what they would have paid last season, which is still considered to represent value for money.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Whitby
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South
