Dumfries’ bid for city status could put the town and entire region on the map nationally and internationally, says the area’s provost.
Tracey Little insisted it was a “no-brainer” that Dumfries should enter the running for a town-to-city upgrade next year.
She argued that a successful bid would make Dumfries a more attractive place to businesses, investors, and tourists, potentially leading to more jobs and increased spending in the area.
The issue was discussed at last week’s Dumfries and Galloway Council meeting where councillors debated whether or not to enter Dumfries into the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours competition.
The Queen has agreed that contests will be held for a grant of city status to mark her Platinum Jubilee in 2022, which follows similar competitions for the Golden Jubilee in 2002 and Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
Urging her fellow councillors to support the Dumfries entry into the competition, Provost Little said: “It’s free to enter, it’ll take limited resources to put together, and there’s no financial barrier or too much time taken.
“It’s a no-brainer. Anything that positively impacts our region we should be surging ahead with.
“We’re always complaining about being the forgotten region. Now is our chance to raise our town and our region’s profile – nationally and internationally.
“This could make our region more attractive to private business and could encourage inward migration.
“International firms seeking new bases in the UK are more likely to favour cities over towns.
“We will appear in search engine browsers for city breaks, best cities in UK and Scotland. We’d also appear on more must-see guides thus gaining more tourist pounds.
“We’ll finally be on the map that we keep saying we’re not on.
“A successful bid would have Dumfries as the first city in Scotland – and the only city in the south of Scotland.”
Council leader Elaine Murray explained that she has been discussing the city status bid with council officers, and added: “I asked that any bid should benefit the entire region, it’s not just about the town.
“Secondly, that it shouldn’t be onerous on our officers’ time as they’ve got plenty to do.”
Castle Douglas and Crocketford Councillor David James questioned the city status bid and whether it was a good use of council officers’ time.
He added: “Why don’t we concentrate on building a great town, instead of thinking about a hypothetical city?”
Liz Manson, the council’s community planning and engagement officer, said: “Certainly that issue has come up. But the development and improvement of Dumfries town is already ongoing and there are a number of third sector and public sector organisations working very well together to do that very thing.
“This is not in competition with that, it is complementary to that.
“Should the council agree to support a bid, we do have a number of offers of assistance that would help with the physical putting together of the bid.”
Deputy council leader, Councillor Rob Davidson said: “I think it’s an excellent opportunity for us to use city status for our benefit as an entire region to showcase all the other things we have to offer.
“I think it is ambitious, and I think it’s right that we are ambitious for both Dumfries and Dumfries and Galloway.”
All councillors, with the exception of Councillor David James, agreed to set up a city status group and progress with the bid for Dumfries.
