Authority approves plans to spend £20m on resort regeneration

Great Yarmouth Borough Council has outlined plans to spend £20.1m of Town Deal funding

A seaside town council has approved plans to spend £20.1m of government cash on nine projects.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council agreed to use the money to fund a range of schemes, from heritage restorations to a new local base for the energy sector.

The money has been provided by the government's Town Deal fund.

The largest single scheme will see the former Palmers/Beales store transformed into a shared library and learning hub for students and adult learners.

The money has been allocated for Great Yarmouth and Gorleston but there was criticism the funding was not equally spread.

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Summaries of each project, setting out how the money will be spent, were considered at a meeting of Great Yarmouth Borough Council's (GYBC) policy and resources committee.

At the meeting, Labour councillor Brian Walker said: "The title of the thing - it's called the 'Great Yarmouth and Gorleston-on-Sea [Town Investment Plan]'

"I've been through this loads of times and I can't see a mention of Gorleston.

"If Gorleston isn't in there, why don't we just put our hands up and say 'Gorleston is getting nothing, this is a Great Yarmouth plan?'"

Great Yarmouth, famous for its Golden Mile, will receive money from the government fund

GYBC chief executive Sheila Oxtoby said there were some projects that would benefit both towns, namely the improvements to public wayfinding signage and the towns' digital infrastructure.

She said that when the Town Deal was first awarded, it was limited to Great Yarmouth itself, and was only expanded to include Gorleston at a later stage, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

She added that because Great Yarmouth had several places identified as strategically important for the borough's economy, it was "inevitable" that a "significant amount" of the funding would remain within the town itself.