Illuminating

Whatever your point of view - and the lighting of the pier and cliff lift has caused a great deal of controversy amongst local residents, many of whom feel the project to be expensive and surreal when other issues need to be addressed - the new lighting scheme that is illuminating Saltburn's Victorian Pier and Cliff Lift from dusk to midnight has won a national award.

The scheme, part of the Council's 'Lighting Our Culture' initiative, won the annual Lighting Design Awards category for Transport Lighting. The scheme uses blue light to illuminate the cliff as a visual reference to the water that drives the cliff lift power mechanism. The pier buildings and beach huts are also lit.

The Council's Mayor, Councillor Peter Spencer, collected the award - a metal certificate - along with lighting design consultant Michael Phillips at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel in a ceremony organised by Lighting Equipment News and the Institution of Lighting Engineers.

The scheme's £380,000 funding package included contributions from the Government's regional development agency, One North East, Tees Valley Coastal Arc, the Tees Valley Partnership, the Council, Saltburn Pier Entertainments and Friends of Saltburn Pier. More lighting has also been installed on the lower promenade and Cat Nab car parks. Design work on a potential Phase 2 including the town's community theatre and railway station portico, is also complete, with funding and planning applications to come.