Is one of England's most deprived towns on the up?

Great Yarmouth has historically struggled with lower than average earnings, life expectancy and GCSE results

Just a mile (1.6km) down the road from one of England's most deprived neighbourhoods lies the heart of the country's multi-billion-pound offshore energy industry where big salaries are made. For local authorities it is an uncomfortable imbalance, but one they claim they are trying to address.

Like many coastal towns, Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, has spent decades fighting deprivation.

Issues such as high unemployment, below-average salaries and poor education attainment have passed through multiple generations, particularly since the 1980s when traditional seaside holidays started to decline.

And yet the town has a lot going for it. Its tourism industry is worth more than half a billion pounds each year and arguably, more importantly, it has benefited from a whopping £300m of investment since 2019. So, is this a big turning point in Great Yarmouth's fortunes and can residents and businesses look forward to a brighter future?

Construction on a new operations and maintenance campus for the offshore wind industry is under way

Carl Smith, the Conservative leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, certainly thinks so.

He described the recent investment as "phenomenal" and puts it down to the council's "long-term strategy".

"When I became a councillor in 2015, we started to look at a forward plan - we had a vision," he said.

"We looked at where we could get the funding and thankfully, all of a sudden, these pots of money became available."

In the last four years, the council and other local authorities, have secured funding that included £26m for a new leisure centre, £4m to regenerate the market place, £24.8m for a new offshore wind operations and maintenance campus, £18m to regenerate the Winter Gardens, £20m to redevelop the town's North Quay and £121m for a new bridge which is set to open in the coming weeks.

Building work on the town's new market was completed in the autumn

Much of the funding came from the government and county council, but also from private investors, which the borough council said showed "confidence" in the town.

"What we're trying to do is completely revamp Yarmouth for the 21st century," Mr Smith added. "This isn't about now, it's about the next 30 to 40 years."

The council said boosting skills and education attainment was also a key part of its strategy, something the borough has struggled with in the past.

Earlier this year, a report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that 26% of people in Great Yarmouth had no qualifications, which ranked as the sixth worst performing local authority area in England and Wales.

The report also found that the town had the lowest percentage of people with higher qualifications, including university degrees.

A university campus will soon be part of a new learning hub

Dr Catherine Richards, the principal at East Norfolk Sixth Form College in nearby Gorleston, said a lot of work was underway to improve education.

The college will soon open a new £2m engineering centre to help support the local offshore wind industry.

In 2022, a new sixth form college – The Sir Isaac Newton East – opened.

And in late 2024, Great Yarmouth is expected to become a university town after the University of Suffolk and East Coast College announced plans to offer degrees at a new library and learning hub currently under construction at the former Palmers department store.

Dr Catherine Richards believes the "great" was being put back into Great Yarmouth

Dr Richards said: "The key for us is having more graduates here, having more skills here and having people interested in local businesses.

"We need to make sure that young people know that they can stay here, that they can get qualifications and do well in future."

"Because clearly, the better the town does the more investment we get and the better quality of life everyone gets. That's the way to reduce poverty," she added.

According to the ONS, Great Yarmouth is ranked the 32nd most income-deprived area of England with a third of the town's neighbourhoods among the most deprived.

Average weekly wages are thought to be £479, and unemployment is almost 4%, compared with a regional average of 2.8%.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council believed 23% of all jobs in the area are tourism related

Residents and businesses in Great Yarmouth said they welcomed the recent investment but worried about the number of empty shops.

In 2022, a report by the business support trust, Power to Change, found that 8.4% of retails units in the town were "persistently vacant".

"I don't know if the town is at a turning point right now," said Lenny Gordon, a market trader of 55 years.

"If it is turning round, it's like an oil tanker, it takes so long. People expect instant changes but it's not like that.

"We're very lucky that there's a lot of investment going into the town and over the next 10 years I hope we'll see big changes," he added.

Market trader Lenny Gordon said the success of Great Yarmouth would rely on residents using the new facilities

Trevor Wainwright, leader of the Labour Group at Great Yarmouth Borough Council, said he also supported the "cross party" projects the council had delivered.

However, his biggest concern for residents was higher council tax bills and a real terms cut in government funding since 2010, which had "negatively impacted" key services.

The council needed to make a further £1.5m in savings in 2024.

"People keep talking about all these jobs, especially in offshore wind, but we haven't seen any evidence of that," Mr Wainwright said.

"It all sounds good but whether all this investment provides more local jobs waits to be seen."

A number of proposed wind farm projects worth billions of pounds are expected to be built off the coast of Great Yarmouth in the coming years, with global firms set to move on to the operations and maintenance campus on South Denes.

Local authorities said the challenge now was to ensure local people were given the right skills to access those well-paid jobs.

A council report in 2019, showed the town's highest earners lived outside the borough.

"Let's be clear, we've still got big,big challenges," Mr Smith added.

"But we'll keep trying to transform Great Yarmouth to make sure it is a forward-thinking town and something that everyone who lives here can be proud of."