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Take a look at the Wellington Pier and the first
thing you think instead of entertainment is dereliction.
There are weeds everywhere, broken windows, peeling
paint and smashed masonry.
In one corner where a building has fallen into
disrepair and subsequently attacked by vandals, there now lies used
syringes and part-used bottles of insulin.
It's hard to believe this is a prime site on the
town's Golden Mile, but work is beginning to change things.
Bert Coe is the manager of the pier, which was
taken over by Family Amusements after the entertainer Jim Davidson
pulled out two seasons ago.
He says it will be vastly improved by the time
the hoardings come down in February.
"You'll have a family amusement centre here which
will then lead us on to phase three," he said.
"The first phase is to obviously shut this off
from the tourists of Great Yarmouth because really I think, as a
boarded site it is much more beneficial not to see what we can see
at the moment as it's a very sad site.
"The initial works are to flatten what we've got
and get the foundations ready for October when we can begin the
building up work.
"We're anticipating that by February of next
year we'll be able to start refurbishing it," he added.
Taking charge of the project for Family Amusements
is Elm Contracts - and its workers are now on site putting up hoardings
to protect tourists from the dust and noise.
Michael Fleming, the director of Elm Contracts,
explained the work will happen step-by-step.
"Firstly, we've got the demolition," he said.
"We've got to strip down some the buildings
and the toilets that run underneath the pier - demolishing
and stripping it down to excavation level.
"Then a steel frame will be going in with
a beam floor to get the levels correct for the pier at the other
end," he added.
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