‘It’s not Las Vegas’, seaside town locals fume over ‘tacky’ 27m-long Hollywood-style sign
FURIOUS locals have slammed plans for a “tatty” £8,500 Hollywood-style sign to illuminate their seaside town.
Gorleston on Sea locals were left baffled by plans to light up their seafront with a “tacky” sign which spelled its name out in lights – much like you’d see at a Las Vegas casino.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council had been seeking permission to put up the Hollywood-style galvanised steel sign, spelling “Gorleston”, at the Pier Gardens, beside the Ocean Room along the town’s seafront.
Local authorities had bought the £8,500 sign, made up of nine six-metre columns, amid plans for it to be lit up during the summer from dusk until midnight.
But the letters are now sitting in storage after the plans were shelved on July 2 amid a backlash from furious locals, the Eastern Daily Press reported.
The proposal sparked fury from 25 neighbours, many of whom slammed the project as a “waste of taxpayers’ money”.
One said: “A complete waste of money and will spoil the natural beauty of the area. Gorleston does not need this sort of tat.”
Another said: “We don’t need a huge illuminated sign naming Gorleston on the promenade. It’s an area of historical importance and not Las Vegas.”
Others slammed the sign as “tacky”, while some pointed out that the town’s official name was “Gorleston On Sea”, so any sign should reflect the town’s “correct geographical name”.
It was hoped that the Gorleston sign would encourage more activity at the Pier Gardens on summer evenings.
Similar Hollywood-style signs have already been put up in Great Yarmouth and Hemsby, with the Gorleston version set to complete the trio.
The three signs cost £25,349 in total, meaning a cost of around £8,500 per sign.
The Great Yarmouth sign was lit up for the first time in March 2022 in a ceremony at the Pleasure Beach gardens.
The sign is roughly half the size of the Hollywood sign, standing at 8m high and 27m long.
The following month, Hemsby was lit up with a 17m wide and 6m tall sign.
