HAS anyone actually read Warrington’s initial bid for the City of Culture 2021?

It can be found on the internet – https://drive.google.com/file/d/ 1eVs5fTH3J2iypmZzBQjE9YSpIts WkWUH/view.

I must admit this is the initial document and hopefully the final bid document was more complete and positive.

If you were to read the document with little knowledge of Warrington I wonder what kind of impression you would get.

Among the supporting evidence for the bid we learn (and I must emphasise at this point these are statements in the bid not my own views): The RSA’s 2015 survey of heritage assets implied Warrington is a cultural desert.

Beyond pockets of deprivation that do exist, our area lacks a vibrant centre and a fundamental sense of identity and cohesion.

We have areas of inner city deprivation like Bewsey and Latchford.

The bid area has some of the most persistently deprived wards in the UK.

The bid is about making sense of an area that right now does not make sense to many people.

We have well above national levels of obesity with 68 per cent of adults being overweight or obese.

We have a high proportion of disabled residents (20 per cent).

As the home of the UK’s first IKEA, we are inspired by the huge impact of Swedish lifestyles on UK culture.

With all this going for us it is somewhat surprising that we didn’t get to the shortlist.

CHRISTOPHER LEE Penketh