It is good to see Warrington has started to climb the national league table for culture and heritage, although I believe we still have a way to go if we ever want to become a “City of Culture.”
I was one of the first to jump to the defence of our town last year when the national press published the headlines stating Warrington was bottom of the league for culture.
I personally believe last year’s report was flawed, especially when it stated we had no canals!!!
Hopefully we can continue to climb up the league table and we still have plenty to be proud of in Warrington – and there is nothing wrong with having ambition to become a city of culture.
Meanwhile many rugby fans in the town were shocked by the sudden departure of Chris Sandow from Warrington Wolves, which was certainly a case of poor communication.
Personally I was not that surprised and I think Tony Smith’s comments about “less grey hairs to worry about” pretty much sums up the fact, that as a club Warrington will be better off without him.
Hopefully in Declan Patton we have a local youngster, who has already shown he is quite capable of filling Sandow’s boots.
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There is no outside funding available for ‘City of Culture’ bids. The average cost towns have previously paid for a bid for ‘City of Culture’ is £11 million. And even towns which have won the title end up with debts which take years to pay off. Are WBC planning more cuts in public services to fund this bid?
Warrington has been lifted from its previous lowly cultural/heritage standing to one in 2016 that is marginally above the likes of Slough, Luton and Knowsley. I don’t believe WBC itself or in any of its other many guises should spend any of our hard earned council tax revenues to fund a City of Culture application. We can’t afford it, for reasons SHA has indicated; we’re strapped for cash and making cuts across most areas.
Before any civic flights of fancy are embarked upon towards any proposed CoC bid, we need an honest open and transparent discussion on all elements of sponsorship and funding it would require.