Great Yarmouth Borough Council has agreed grants totalling £52,000 to improve town centre frontages over the last 18 months – and businesses and social enterprises are urged to apply soon if they wish to secure some of the remaining funds.
Under the Town Centre Shopfront Improvement Scheme, eligible applicants can ask for grants of up to £3,000 to help fund shopfront renovation, decoration, new signage and/or replacement of historic features, in Great Yarmouth town centre.
Through five funding rounds over the last 18 months, the council has approved 23 grant applications totalling £52,360, including £19,840 during the last funding round alone, helping to accelerate and unlock investment in frontages.
With only £16,000 now left in the grant pot, eligible businesses and social enterprises are encouraged to get in touch soon, or risk missing out on a grant. Applicants must cover at least 25 per cent of the total cost themselves.
The scheme supports the council’s wider Town Centre Masterplan, which aims to enhance the historic town centre for the 21st century as a destination where more people choose to live, work, invest and spend their leisure time and money.
One recent successful applicant is The Bag Shop, in Regent Road, which was granted about £1,840 to help replace shopfront signage and fit large entrance doors, as part of a wider investment that has seen them completely refurbish and fit out their new base.
The Bag Shop was one of the businesses displaced by the major fire at the indoor market, during August 2016, and has kept operating on their stall on the two-day market, returning to Regent Road this spring when a suitable unit became available.
Co-owner Alan Pitt said: “Things are going really well. Without the grant, we would’ve probably just had plain doors and we wouldn’t have been able to afford to have the branding. That makes a big difference, especially when people are walking down the street. I would highly recommend the grant scheme. It’s a simple process, the council staff have been very helpful, and it has enabled us to do things we wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.”
Another successful applicant is Gillian Harwood, of London-based Lewes Workspace Ltd, which is planning to renovate, as a business hub, an empty historic building in Queen Street, at an estimated investment of more than £100,000. The council has approved up to £3,000 towards suitable and costed improvements to the building’s façade.
She said: “We are very pleased with this most welcome grant. We hope that our investment in Great Yarmouth will encourage both exciting new businesses to grow and existing businesses to enjoy the facilities too. We are very impressed by the hard work and vision of the borough council in their improvement plans and, hopefully, we can show what can be done to make a difference.”
Cllr Barry Coleman, chairman of the economic development committee, said: “We have seen some really great applications from a range of businesses, and the grants have made a genuine difference through incentivising private sector investment and supporting our wider work to boost the town centre and economy for everyone’s benefit.
“Through this scheme, I am particularly pleased the council has been able to further help some of the businesses which were affected by the major fire, and also to support exciting aspirations and works at some historic buildings. While we still have some money left in the pot, we encourage eligible applicants to submit their forms as soon as possible to avoid missing out.”
Application forms, guidance and a map showing the area covered by the scheme are available by visiting www.enterprisegy.co.uk/shop-
The ground has been broken to start construction of Great Yarmouth’s exciting new state-of-the-art Marina Centre, with Great Yarmouth Borough Council sharing a video on social media in order to celebrate this exciting milestone with the community.
The council’s £26m investment will be a major boost to the economy and community for decades to come, acting as a catalyst for potential further investment and seafront regeneration, whilst supporting health and well-being for the whole borough.
While it was not possible to stage a ground-breaking ceremony on-site, the council worked with main contractor Morgan Sindall Construction to create a “virtual ground-breaking ceremony” in the form of a video shared with residents on the council’s social media channels.
Residents and visitors are asked to complete a short survey to help bolster a major funding bid to The National Lottery Heritage Fund to save and revive Great Yarmouth’s Winter Gardens.
The Grade II*-listed landmark is a national heritage gem, the UK’s last surviving Victorian seaside cast iron and glass winter gardens, and it requires significant national investment to repair and restore, supported by a robust business plan for re-use.
With the project among only 12 shortlisted nationally to apply to the Heritage Horizons Awards scheme, Great Yarmouth Borough Council is working with conservation specialists and a preferred operator to finalise the application to the first stage of this very competitive multi-stage national funding pot.
Construction of an exciting new stake park at Cobholm is pushing ahead this week – the outcome of close working over several years between Great Yarmouth Borough Council, local young people and the skating community.
The new skate park, next to the multi-use games area off Mill Road, will replace a popular but outdated wooden one in the same location, providing a modern, exciting and upgraded facility to support involvement in physical activity. It will be made of reinforced concrete, incorporating ramps and grind rails set into a polished surface.
The funding, which comes from the council and housing developer contributions, was agreed following a request to councillors by young people from youth charity MAP and the local skating community, with support provided by the council’s Neighbourhoods and Communities Team.
Norfolk’s largest coastal resort is running an eye-catching social media campaign over Easter to remind would-be tourists to stay away and safe at home to help protect the NHS and save lives during the coronavirus pandemic.
While the Easter bank holiday weekend normally marks the start of Great Yarmouth’s season, the message this year from the borough council and tourism businesses is that the resort is closed to visitors, with attractions, seafront car parks and holiday parks shut to the public as part of national social distancing measures.
The campaign will run over the four days and is aimed at those who might be tempted to break the restrictions by making unnecessary journeys to Great Yarmouth, Gorleston-on-Sea, or the local village resorts, and potentially congregating on the seafronts and beaches.
The project to save Great Yarmouth’s unique Winter Gardens has been successfully shortlisted to apply to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with the borough council now working closely with a preferred operator to develop the funding application.
The Grade II*-listed at-risk landmark, which has dominated the famous Golden Mile since 1904, is a heritage gem of national significance as the UK’s last surviving Victorian seaside cast iron and glass winter gardens.
Following significant and ongoing project redevelopment, Great Yarmouth Borough Council submitted a successful Expression of Interest to the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Horizons Awards scheme and is through the initial stage of the process.