Great Yarmouth Borough Council's cabinet to consider future of Banksy artworks

One of the pieces shows an amusement arcade 'grabber' crane and was painted above a bench on the back wall of a Gorleston beach shelter, where it has remained a popular attraction.

At a meeting next week, the cabinet will vote on a proposal to consider better protecting the artwork and preserve it in-situ for people to continue to enjoy. New protection from vandalism and deterioration for the piece could include a new special Perspex-type cover and a type of transparent varnish to prevent graffiti or other damage.

The second artwork, on a wall at Gorleston Yacht Pond, was painted over and then removed by the council shortly after it appeared. It showed children and an inflatable dinghy and was considered to have unintentional parallels to the tragic death of a child on Gorleston beach three years previously.

The piece was also redacted from Banksy's official social media accounts and website relating to the Great British Spraycation and has been effectively disowned by the artist with only circumstantial evidence remaining that he created it.

The piece has been restored and is currently in Lincolnshire. Cabinet members will be asked to consider a recommendation to value and sell the piece.

If the recommendation is approved, the remaining money from the sale would be ring-fenced for spending on community projects in the Gorleston area.

Banksy's Great British Spraycation took place in August 2021, and street art attributed to him started appearing in Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Oulton Broad and Cromer.

In Great Yarmouth it included an installation at Merrivale Model Village, a mural of dancers above a bus stop shelter on Admiralty Road in addition to the Gorleston beach shelter work and the monochrome stencil on the wall at Gorleston Yacht Pond.

The Merrivale installation was subsequently sold by the attraction's owners, while the Admiralty Road piece remains a popular tourist attraction.