Managing Director’s Column

Richard Packham, Managing Director, Great Yarmouth Borough Council shares his thoughts and news from in and around the Borough

The most recent edition can be viewed here;

January 2012

January can often seem a very dark month – not just because daylight hours are at their shortest and sunshine in short supply. After the festivities over Christmas and the New Year it can feel like a very long haul to Easter and Springtime and the next guaranteed break from the daily grind. The news media don’t help, being full of gloomy economic forecasts and never-ending talk of austerity and cutbacks. Not much reason to be cheerful then… or is there?

Actually, there are lots of reasons to be cheerful about 2012 – here are ten for starters…

1) It is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which brings us an extra bank holiday and a good excuse for a party. Look out for planned events in the Borough, including a classic British Fete and Food festival in St Georges Park, plus beacons, fireworks and lots of pageantry

2) Palmers Department Store celebrates its 175th anniversary – traditional customer service values still going strong in a cutthroat retail environment

3) The renovation of the Town Hall continues on schedule and within budget and will be complete by August. It will be a civic centrepiece that both the Council and the whole community can be proud of

4) Great Yarmouth’s new Enterprise Zone will go live in April, providing financial incentives and fast-track planning approvals to encourage investment and job creation in the South Denes area and at Beacon Park, Gorleston

5) A licence will be granted to the chosen operator of a new large Casino in the Borough, with the prospect of a major new attraction bringing visitors and boosting spending the whole year round

6) The Borough’s events programme, that already includes the ever popular Maritime Festival and the amazing Out There Festival in September will be boosted by the Olympics – look out for SeaChange Arts’ contribution to the Cultural Olympiad and the passage of the Olympic Torch through the Borough - and the Tour Of Britain Cycle Race, which is set to visit the town once again

7) St George’s Chapel will reopen as a venue for a wide range of entertainment and cultural activities. The restoration work to the Chapel itself has created a stunning space and alongside it will sit a new pavilion designed by Hopkins Architects (designers of the Forum and the Cathedral Refectory in Norwich)

8) Centre 81 will celebrate its 30th anniversary – three decades of providing life enhancing activities that focus on ability rather than disability. Its work is inspirational and its services are unique to the Great Yarmouth area. Look out for a programme of events to raise its profile and to shake a few preconceptions about disability.

9) Renewable energy – and particularly offshore wind farms – will continue to offer this area the prospect of major investment and job creation. Announcements about key locational and investment decisions are expected over the next few months and initiatives like the Nexus engineering skills centre at Beacon Park are being put in place to ensure local people are equipped to benefit

10) And finally - we are still here! Governments, ministers and auditors come and go but local government sails resolutely on, absorbing change, rising to the latest challenges and always striving to do the very best that it can for the people it serves.

I hope 2012 brings at least something to be cheerful about for each and every one of you.

Richard