Plenty of positives to applaud despite culture bid setback

A HOLIDAY destination associated with scenic beaches, charming harbours and coastal walks, the visitors’ paradise that is Cornwall is also a place of creativity and culture that is less often shouted about.

From theatres and galleries to small arts-related businesses, the county’s creative industry has huge value in supporting economic growth.

Alongside such global brands as Tate and the Eden Project, innumerable organisations – ranging from digital designers to filmmakers – foster talent and add colour and complexity to the fabric of Cornwall’s make-up, breathing life into communities and supporting local jobs.

And many of these creative endeavours are intertwined with issues of sustainability and environmental change, in a county which prides itself on forging ahead with green thinking.

So it is disappointing news that Cornwall’s City of Culture 2025 bid, built on the themes of People, Place, and Planet, has failed to make the final shortlist, given its cultural offering, the potential for growth and the enormous benefits such a prestigious accolade would have brought.

Those behind the bid, which had so much to recommend it, should be proud it made the longlist of eight areas from an original list of 20 last year.

Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay praised the quality of Cornwall’s bid, saying: “Cornwall has a rich cultural heritage and a thriving and diverse arts scene, so it was brilliant to see it longlisted for UK City of Culture 2025. I’m hugely grateful for all the hard work that went into the process and I hope people across Cornwall will see the huge benefits of taking part in this extremely competitive process.”

There are certainly many positives in having joined the competition. Not only has putting forward a strong bid raised the profile of Cornwall, following its success in hosting the 2021 G7 summit, but it also brought organisations and individuals together with a common purpose.

Those involved say the bid making the longlist was a “huge vote of confidence in the quality and value of Cornwall’s cultural and creative sector” and that the county’s cultural ambitions remain undimmed. The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which led the bid, even said it would still be investing £1million in developing Cornwall’s cultural and creative industries.

LEP chief executive Glenn CaplinGrey said the very act of bidding “has allowed us to showcase some of the brilliant things that are happening in Cornwall and to plan for the future”.

“What we’ve shown is that Cornwall is a UK powerhouse when it comes to creative industries and that the sector can be a real catalyst for economic growth,” he said.

Truro and Falmouth MP Cherilyn Mackrory added that the process of bidding has had “a very positive impact, bringing together enduring partnerships to share a vision for an area and attract investment”.

Once the setback has been digested, it is time to regroup and press on undeterred with the aims behind the culture bid: to embrace what the county has to offer and strive for growth in this vital sector.