Your chance to view Great Yarmouth town centre proposals in person

Great Yarmouth Borough Council is asking residents, visitors and businesses to share their views on plans to improve the market place and surrounding area.

An online consultation was launched last month, and now the public is being given the chance to view the plans in person.

The proposals will be on show in the Town Hall's Atrium area next week, available for drop-in viewing between 9am to 3pm, Monday 28 February to Friday 4 March.

They will also be on display in pop-up exhibitions in Great Yarmouth market place on Wednesday 2 March and Saturday 12 March.

Details can also still be viewed where people can leave their views through an online survey until Monday 14 March.

The proposals are based around three key themes:

• A safer place to visit: spaces that are well-lit and easy to get around on foot. Visitors and local people should be helped to get around the town through things like paving materials and textures, street lighting, tree planting and furniture.
• A cleaner place to visit: high-quality public spaces that residents and visitors want to spend time in and retailers want to set up shop in. The town's heritage, character, and sense of place will be reflected by the market setting and shop frontages to revive the space as a key destination where people will want to meet and spend time.
• A greener place to visit: increased greenery in the town centre, more trees, and environmentally sensitive low-energy lighting. Improved air quality by supporting 'active' transport like walking, cycling and electric vehicles.

The plans take in an area from Priory Plain through the Market Place to the junction of King Street and Regent Street. They include high-quality durable new paving, new benches, and trees and planters.

They also include enlarged flexible event spaces either side of the covered market, which is currently undergoing a £4.7m transformation with the creation of a more welcoming, more spacious, and greener market building.

The project is being funded with cash from the Government's Future High Street Fund, which aims to renew and reshape town centres and high streets in a way that drives growth, improves experience and ensures future sustainability.

Council leader Carl Smith and Labour group leader Trevor Wainwright said: "The town centre is a really important area for the whole borough. It has been central to our history, and with transformative projects like the new market building, and a new library and learning and centre on the way, it will be key to our future.

"This project is about making sure we have public areas that are fit for the future, that are more pleasant for people to spend time in, and help show retailers and other businesses that we are serious about the town centre as a great place to shop, to socialise, and to live.

"That ambition is why our bid to the Future High Street Fund was successful, and why we have this chance to revitalise the town centre with money that would otherwise be going to other parts of the country."

The public feedback will be used to help finalise the proposals, and work is expected to start in autumn 2022.