Sutton on Sea: Culture hub part of £6m Colonnade revamp

The plans include a restaurant, cafe, gallery, and viewing platform

A cultural hub is to be set up in a Lincolnshire village as part of a £6m redevelopment of its beachfront.

East Lindsey councillors said the venue in Sutton on Sea would bring "art and culture into the mainstream".

Arts Council funds will enable it to offer creative workshops as well as programmes for schoolchildren.

Councillors gave final approval to redevelop the seafront 1950s Colonade structure on Wednesday, with work due to begin within weeks.

A restaurant, cafe, gallery, craft studios, seasonal overnight lodges and a viewing platform will be built on the site.

Part of the £4.2m cost of the project will be met by the government's Town Deal funding, with the remainder from East Lindsey District Council.

The authority's deputy leader Graham Marsh said it was a "huge piece of work", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"There are some fantastic outputs from that, not just in relation to heritage and bringing art and culture into the mainstream, but also making it accessible for everybody through a range of interactive sessions, workshops and digital training," he said.

The scheme includes leisure and exhibition facilities

The Arts Council funding requires East Lindsey, Boston Borough Council and South Holland District Council to each set up cultural hubs.

Boston will establish its hub in the Guildhall and in South Holland, Spalding's Ayscoughfee Hall will also host artistic and cultural programmes.

The three councils, which applied jointly for the funding, will each receive £651,993 over the next three years.

Magna Vitae, East Lindsey's culture delivery partner, will be commissioned to manage delivery of Sutton on Sea's programme.

The council said work on the Colonnade site would begin "in a matter of weeks" and would be completed by the end of May 2024.