Thousands of people have signed a petition to preserve Skirlington Market which argues ‘it would be like taking the seafront away from Bridlington’
It has been a cornerstone of life on the East Yorkshire coast for almost 40 years but now Skirlington Market and Carboot is under threat. The site attracts around 15,000 visitors from near and far every Sunday, also encouraging them to sample the wider offering that the area provides by way of shops, pubs, cafes and more.
Directors of the long-established market have learned that the owners of the neighbouring family holiday park, on whose land the colourful market and carboot are located, want them to vacate so that it can be developed for extra leisure facilities, a decision they say “was not taken lightly”. A petition that has been raised on the platform change.org against the closure says the move would “devastate livelihoods”.
It calls on Charlie Dewhirst MP, who represents the Bridlington & The Wolds constituency, to help “safeguard Skirlington Market and Carboot and ensure this much-loved attraction continues for years to come”. Tom and Angela Parry have been the directors of the market for the past 19 years.
Tom said: “Unity Holidays have given us six months’ notice, from last week, on the back of the hope they get planning permission for the redevelopment they are proposing. The really annoying thing is, the market is still full of traders – we are full to capacity – and we fill the car park every week; the market’s not dying.”
Tom’s wife Angela is the daughter of the market founder, Keith Bemrose, who started out with a handful of stalls on the Skirlington site in 1986. The couple are carrying on a family tradition and “providing a place where generations of visitors, traders and car booters have made memories”.
The market directors’ argument is that the market and carboot do not only support their 200 stallholders, caterers and carboot traders; they also bring vital trade to the immediate locality and beyond. The petition, which has already been signed by over 3,000 people, states: “Many visitors go on to buy caravans and lodges on the surrounding sites, and some even choose to move to East Yorkshire because of the market.
“Coach operators regularly make Skirlington Market and Carboot a main stop on their trips, before heading on to other towns like Bridlington, Hornsea or Scarborough. Around 15,000 visitors come from local villages and from all over the UK.
“Closing Skirlington Market and Carboot would devastate livelihoods, harm East Yorkshire’s tourism economy and take away part of what makes our area special. It would be like taking the seafront away from Bridlington.”
Tom said: “The crux of the matter for us is, initially, they [Unity Holidays] said they were probably going to upgrade and rejuvenate the market to take it up a level – we are in old agricultural sheds – and they quite liked the USP of having a market on site; they saw it as a really good driver.
“We put a proposal together on the back of a lot of research we did, it was a really good proposal we put to them, and we were invited down to lunch in Mayfair [to discuss it]. The day before, it was cancelled.
“They think they can bulldoze us over. Now it’s going to be down to East Riding Council.”
Tom said the response to their fight had been “amazing”. “People are really engaging with it, we have got a good following.
“All the traders are devastated, it’s their biggest market of the week. We had people coming into the office yesterday, saying, ‘how can they let this happen?’ and we’ve said it’s up to the council now to look at it and form a rational response.”
Unity Holidays, who acquired the Skirlington Coast Yorkshire holiday park last year, revealed a five-year plan to revitalise the site, in stages, including enhancements for tourers and additional caravans for holidaymakers. The leisure facilities being proposed for the site of the market include a new sun deck and swimming pool.
Tom said that the owners had 20 acres of land to the south of the holiday park that could be used for their development instead of impacting the market. “I think someone, somewhere has said, ‘we could do with those sheds back’. If they can use our footprint, it is easier for planning.”
Unity Holidays’ chief operating officer Dermot King said: “Asking Skirlington Market to vacate the site after nearly 40 years is not a decision we have taken lightly, and we are aware it will disappoint both the operators and their customers.
“However, Skirlington Coast is a family holiday park, and we feel the land is better used to offer more to our owners and holidaymakers. We have recently submitted plans for a new swimming pool and sun deck which, if approved by the council, will take our total investment in the park to beyond £10m since we purchased it late in 2024.
“The ideas we have for the area currently used by the market will require even further, substantial commitment from Unity Holidays. We believe this shows our desire to encourage more people to come and enjoy a break or own a holiday home on the East Yorkshire coast.
“That, in turn, allows us to employ more local people and support more local businesses – in the last year we spent in excess of £3m with local caravan manufacturers alone. It is our belief that by continuing to find ways to improve Skirlington Coast, we can also help drive greater footfall to our neighbours in the likes of Bridlington and Hornsea.”