CITY council chiefs have scrapped plans for a UK City of Culture bid in favour of a quest which could see Worcester become a ‘Heritage City’.
Members of Worcester City Council’s cabinet will be asked to support a bid for the prestigious Visit England award at a meeting on Tuesday (October 27).
The City Council, Worcestershire County Council and the Worcestershire LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) debated the potential for Worcester to make a bid to become the UK’s City of Culture 2021 earlier this year
But a report to councillors blames low levels of funding and the resources required to mount a bid as reasons for the decision to scrap the plans in favour of pursuing Heritage City status.
An estimated £2million will be injected into the county over the next three years to enhance its heritage and cultural offer.
Securing the accolade would build on Worcester being placed tenth in the first national Heritage Index – published in September by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and the Heritage Lottery Fund – and boost the city’s economy through tourism growth.
In order to join Britain’s Heritage Cities, including Bath, Oxford, Lancaster, Cambridge and York, Worcester needs to meet a number of criteria, as well as demonstrating it has an annual visitor spend of more than £150million.
The Heritage Cities scheme aims to raise the profile of cities such as Worcester, their contribution to the economy and allow city bosses to work with tourism chiefs at Visit England and Visit Britain to showcase Worcester and its history.
Coun Lucy Hodgson, Cabinet Member for History and Heritage at Worcester City Council, said: “Worcester’s historic legacy, particularly in connection to the Civil War, is very compelling.
“We are confident that gaining Heritage City status is achievable for Worcester and would bring real lasting benefits to the city, raising its profile both nationally and internationally
Gary Woodman, executive director of the Worcestershire LEP said: “Our three organisations held a workshop in February to establish what the local arts and heritage organisations in Worcester had to offer culturally.
“We wanted to find out how strong an appetite there was locally to make a UK City of Culture bid, and crucially whether sufficient resources would be available both financially and in terms of manpower and leadership, to deliver a compelling bid.”
Coun Anthony Blagg said: “Although enthusiasm was expressed at the workshop to make a UK City of Culture bid, it has proved difficult to get firm commitment for the finance and resources that would be necessary.
“After careful consideration the three organisations have therefore agreed that instead, we will aim to secure Heritage City status for Worcester,” he added.
If approved, council officers reveal their findings early in the new year before any bid is submitted to Visit England in April 2016.
