Plans to upgrade a park in a coastal village described as a "gem" by one local councillor have taken a step forwards.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council has been allocated some £85,000 by the government's Levelling Up Parks Fund to improve the area's park provision, and they have chosen to spend it on upgrading the park at Diana Way in Caister-on-Sea.
The authority plans to combine that funding with £75,000 collected from the developer behind the village's Pointers East development to create a £160,000 package of improvements to the park.
At a meeting of the council's policy and resources committee on Tuesday, September 27, councillors voted in favour of allocating the funds to the project.
Conservative councillor Penny Carpenter said she was "personally delighted that some money's being spent in Caister, and I'm sure the residents will be just as delighted as I am to improve that beautiful little gem, tucked away in North Caister."
The upgrades are set to include a new woodland area and wildflower meadow, a new pathway around the site, more seating, picnic benches and bins, better signage, a new cycle rack, the refurbishment of the skate park and multi-use games area, and the part refurbishment and replacement of the children’s play area, so that it includes accessible and sensory play equipment.
The council's Labour opposition leader, Trevor Wainwright, said that while the funding was to be welcomed, he was concerned about whether the borough's urban areas were receiving their fair share of money for improvements.
"It's great that this is happening, but the urban areas are being totally and utterly neglected... It's just not acceptable," he said, adding that he had been waiting more than two years for play equipment on the Magdalen estate, in his ward, to receive a refresh.
Conservative councillor Paul Wells said: "No one is pretending it's a land of milk and honey.
"We all know there are major problems in a lot of play parks."
He pointed out that the council's environment committee, which he chairs, had commissioned a study to look at the borough's open spaces, which he hoped would help address the issues.
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