Wrexham City of Culture bid branded a ‘vanity project’ as new company gets green light
Wrexham’s latest bid to become City of Culture has been branded as a “vanity project” by a Conservative councillor.
The comment was made as members of Wrexham Council’s executive board met to discuss progress on an application to enter the race to hold the title in 2029.
Wrexham narrowly missed out to Bradford last year in the competition for the 2025 title.
UK City of Culture is a competition run by the UK Government’s Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport every four years.
The next round is expected to open in 2025 for applications for the 2029 title.
Senior councillors were asked to support the creation of a charitable company, which will be limited by guarantee using a foundation model, to push the bid forward.
However, in a rare showing of disunity on the Executive, Lead Member for Corporate Services Cllr Beverley Parry-Jones questioned whether spending on the bid could be justified in the context of the cost of living crisis.
The Conservative councillor for Bryn Cefn said: “I do have concerns about the City of Culture bid in 2029 and the setting up of a charitable company.
“I understand the reasons why and I’ve got absolutely no doubt about the calibre of the people and the trustees on that board.
“But we must remember we are in a cost of living crisis and we are facing austerity.
“We’ve got absolutely no guarantees in 2029 that we will be successful in this bid.
“I sincerely hope that we are but to me, this is starting to feel a bit like a vanity project for people and I have got serious concerns about it.”
The report on the proposals was presented to the executive board by Cllr Hugh Jones, lead member for environment, who until this week was also the leader of the Conservative group and politically drove and backed the previous City of Culture bid.
On Monday it was announced that Erddig councillor Paul Roberts had been elected by the group to take over the role.
Cllr Jones, who represents Rossett, was officially said to have ‘retired’ from the position. However, some councillors have suggested there may have been internal friction within the group.
Responding to the comments by Cllr Parry-Jones, Cllr Hugh Jones said: “I think the best answer to that question is to talk to the people who are part of the bid from a very broad cross section of the community.
“(This includes) people in the play sector, people in less fortunate areas and people across the whole county borough who have embraced this bid and this aspiration.
“It’s about raising aspirations and opportunities across the whole of the county borough.
“This is not just about the bid itself and the winning of the bid. We’re in it to win it obviously and that is a strapline that we’ve used on a number of occasions.
“But if you look at what we achieved in terms of the bid for 2025, and if you look at the Department for Culture, Media and Sports’ guidance, the bid process itself should be part of levelling up and about increasing and broadening opportunity.
“We have taken that and embraced that and the journey is part of the success just as much as the outcome.”
Executive board members unanimously backed the creation of the charitable company at the end of the discussion.
The organisation will initially be known as Wrexham Community and Culture Trust or Ymddiriedolaeth Cymunedol a Diwylliannol Wrecsam, before being given a “public-facing name” early next year.
Cllr Jones said the decision to set up the company had been taken based on feedback in relation to other bids.
Coventry, title holders in 2021, were cited as an example where issues had arisen for the host city after the National Audit Office had to investigate the City of Culture Trust’s financial affairs.
The trust was said at one stage to be ‘at risk of not remaining a going concern’ and required a million-pound bail out loan from the council, before finally entering administration earlier this year.
Cllr Jones said one of the criticisms was that Coventry’s trust was too closely linked with the council.
He was previously asked how funding would be delivered for the bid, given the significant budget shortfall currently faced by Wrexham Council.
He said a decision had been made to set money aside in this year’s budget, previously announced at around £500k, but it was also hoped the new trust would be able to raise funding from other sources.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email [email protected]
