Council commits to heritage bid - The Worcester Observer

Council commits to heritage bid

Worcester Editorial 12th Nov, 2015 Updated: 19th Oct, 2016   0

AN AMBITOUS bid for Worcester to become a ‘Heritage City’ has been rubber-stamped by council chiefs despite criticisms it was the ‘second best option’.

Members of Worcester City Council’s cabinet backed the move at a meeting on October 27 during which they formally abandoned a City of Culture bid.

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, Manufacturers 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.


Council leader Coun Simon Geraghty said: “We should all agree about putting our history and heritage on the map. We are a great city. Let’s get out there and tell people about it.”

His thoughts were echoed by Coun Andy Roberts who said it was ‘something we should really should do’.

However the bid was labelled the ‘second best option by Labour councillor Roger Berry who said: “City of Culture did capture the public imagination. I’m disappointed that we’re not going down that avenue.”

Labour leader Coun Adrian Gregson said the proposal to become a heritage city was a perfectly good one but claimed the city had no tourism or cultural strategy.

“If you really believed in these things, you would have done them by now. It’s so sad. You seem to think this is such a wonderful thing when it has been around for a long time,” he said.

“What I really hope is that Heritage City Status in not just another tick box. I hope it’s an attempt to bring the tourism economy to the fore.”

However, Coun Geraghty hit back at the claims and said: “We ooze ambition, we are super ambitious for this city.

“I am not going to take any lectures about putting heritage and history at the forefront of our council plan,” he added.

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