Durham City in Capital of Culture bid

Jan 8 2009 by David Whetstone, The Journal

COULD Durham succeed where NewcastleGateshead narrowly failed and become an official Capital of Culture?

Yesterday Durham County Council threw its hat into the ring, reacting swiftly to news that Culture Secretary Andy Burnham is considering launching a four-yearly Capital of Culture contest for UK towns and cities.

The idea came at the end of Liverpool’s reign as European Capital of Culture which has been judged a great success, with 3.5 million people visiting the city for the first time and £176m generated from tourism.

Eighteen years separated Glasgow’s year in the European cultural spotlight with Liverpool’s and, given the expansion of the EU, it could be even longer before the UK gets another chance to benefit from the title.

This explains the Culture Secretary’s interest – reportedly following talks with Phil Redmond, Liverpool’s Capital of Culture chairman – in instigating a four-yearly competition for aspiring cultural capitals in the UK.

If the idea comes to fruition, the first official UK Capital of Culture year will be 2011, the year before the London Olympics.

Dr Simon Henig, leader of Durham County Council, said last night: “Obviously it’s early days but we are expressing an interest because we want to promote Durham as a centre of arts and culture.

“We believe Durham is the historical capital of the North East, as it has been for 1,000 years, and we are keen to promote it as much as we can. We will, in the future, have exciting plans to develop Durham further.”

He added that while the city would be the focal point, the bid would benefit the whole county and the wider region.

“We already have fantastic world heritage sites, world-class sporting events and amazing museums and venues for music, theatre and exhibitions,” he said.

“We believe Capital of Culture status for Durham could be a catalyst for the region, playing a pivotal role not only in physical regeneration but also in stimulating the economy and raising aspirations.”

On April 1, the two-tier system of local government in County Durham will disappear as a new unitary authority takes over from the current county and district councils.

But the county council is the transitional authority with the power to make decisions on behalf of its successor. Coun Henig, also leader-elect of the new council, said this had made a swift response to the Capital of Culture opportunity possible.

The history and politics lecturer at Sunderland University said: “Newcastle and Gateshead have had a lot of success in the past and they did put their bid in last time and probably should have won. But they put on a really good year of activities and that has carried on annually.

“We feel NewcastleGateshead has established its reputation and we would like Durham to do likewise.

“We feel Durham city is a jewel but it’s a jewel not enough people know about nationally and internationally. It is not on the same level as other historic cities, such as York.”

The council’s declaration of interest was supported by Durham City MP Roberta Blackman-Woods who said: “I cannot think of a more appropriate place than Durham to be Britain’s Capital of Culture.”

She described it as a city of regional, national and international significance when it comes to culture, science and education.

Melanie Sensicle, chief executive of County Durham Tourism Partnership, was also supportive, saying: “Our aim is to write a new chapter in Durham’s history by attracting investment, building profile and continuing to develop the destination as one of Britain’s most desirable cultural cities.”

Andrew Dixon, chief executive of NewcastleGateshead Initiative, welcomed the UK Capital of Culture idea and said: “We will look with interest at the benefits for NewcastleGateshead bidding to host this major event in 2011.”

He said that since the process of bidding for European Capital of Culture began, there had been a 42% increase in hotel beds and eight new cultural facilities had opened. NewcastleGateshead’s profile had increased hugely as a result of the bid.