Coastal consultation

As the weather grows warmer, we’re looking back on the sunny work we did for Great Yarmouth Borough Council last summer. We were tasked to engage with the public and gather insights into what the borough needed most, helping the council understand where they should focus their investment.  

Understanding the town’s challenges 

Great Yarmouth, like many coastal communities, faces many challenges with economic deprivation and limited job opportunities. Through our conversations in the town, we uncovered more details on the impact of seasonal tourism to a lack of youth opportunities, poor public transport and availability of healthcare services. With funding secured from central government, our objective was to show residents that their voices mattered and how their views and ideas could help shape a long-term plan for the town. We share Great Yarmouth’s relief that the government has recently pledged to recognise the hard work that councils put into last year’s Long-Term Plan for Towns and that this will be repurposed in the new Plan for Neighbourhoods. 

Sunny days on the seafront 

Our community engagement spanned over the course of nine weeks, in ten different locations and with hundreds of in-person conversations. We were lucky enough to be graced with a heatwave whilst hosting one of our sessions at the Marina Centre, a recently built leisure centre with direct access to the beach. We engaged with families spending the day at the centre and people passing through on their way to spend their afternoon in the sun. There, we met many friendly locals keen to chat and answer questions and offer suggestions for improvement.

Walking the full length of the pier and beach proved especially effective, as crowds were gathered for ice cream and beach essentials, giving us plenty of opportunities to connect. Does the sunshine encourage more participation? We think so! 

Our digital reach 

Interestingly, our digital survey really broadened our reach. Promoted through the council’s social media and print channels, it attracted over 600 responses. The insights we collected offered a clear vision of what really mattered to the town. 

Our work with Great Yarmouth is now complete and we are very grateful that we had the privilege of working on such an impactful project that set out to make a real difference for so many people’s lives.  

As the town looks to the future and its investment priorities, we’re hopeful that the insights that we gathered help inform long term vision for a seaside town that’s very close to our hearts.