Wrexham Council look to ‘explore City Status bid’ and apply for ‘City of Culture 2025’

Wrexham Council have unveiled two ambitious applications that could see the town become a city, and then also becoming a City of Culture with the council promising to share the benefits such a move would entail.

The Council last bid for City Status in 2012 as part of the Queens Diamond Jubilee Honours with the process back then costing around £20,000. Today’s new bid announcement has been hinted at previously, with hopes we fare better than in 2000 and 2002 where other bids were also unsuccessful.

Yesterday morning Wrexham.com and the BBC were the usual two attendees at the media briefing ahead of the Executive Board meeting on Tuesday with no mention of a city status bid, however 24 hours later a late addition to the agenda sees the meeting set to approve “recommendation to progress a stage 1 City of Culture application, and to explore a bid for City Status working with key stakeholders to identify the benefits.”

It is unclear why the item was brought at such a late time, as the statement from Wrexham Council notes the ‘imminent closing date in July’ for the City of Culture application.

Eyebrows have also been raised from some councillors that the Civic Leaders Group had been informed of the progress ahead of many members of the council.

Cllr Mark Pritchard Leader of the Council said, “Both these opportunities provide a real opportunity to demonstrate locally, regionally and nationally the ambition that Wrexham has to properly fulfil its role as the major urban centre and heart of North Wales and in doing so provide significant benefits to local residents.”

The Council is encouraging local representatives, local stakeholders and communities to “be positively part of this process over the coming months to support work that is critical to the economic recovery of the town and surrounding areas”.

The council added: “Both these potential opportunities can provide significant benefits to Wrexham. Identifying and sharing the details of these benefits with stakeholders over the coming months would be a key part of the work on these projects.”

Cllr Terry Evans Lead member for Economic Regeneration said, “Economic recovery is a priority over the coming months and these two opportunities will help show the confidence we all have in Wrexham and it is this confidence that creates the environment for investment in the area.”

Cllr Hugh Jones, Lead Member for Communities, Partnerships, Public Protection and Community Safety said, “Wrexham has a strong track record in this area having undertaken a year of Culture in 2011 and has rich cultural assets including Tŷ Pawb, the oldest international football ground in the World and a World Heritage Site to name a few, we want to celebrate with local residents the unique culture of Wrexham and the City of Culture 2025 provides a unique opportunity to do this.”

The Council note: “Maximising economic benefits for Wrexham at a time of recovery from Covid 19 is critical to the future success of Wrexham. Key pieces of work that will be required include, working with economic specialists to identify the benefits and any disadvantages associated with city status; engaging with stakeholders about these benefits to gain their views; identifying a key set of stakeholders who would work with the Council on advocating the bid.”

The closing date the City Status bid is December 2021.

Wrexham Council’s Executive Board will discuss the matter on Tuesday at 10am, with the meeting webcast.