Councillors have hit out at a bid to make Newport a city, saying they fear it would make the Isle of Wight a ‘laughing stock’ but others say it would add variety to the type of cities the UK has and not conform to a strict ideal.
Put forward by Mountjoy and Shide councillor, Martin Oliver, a motion seeks approval for the Isle of Wight Council to enter a bid, in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, to make the county town of the Island a city.
As part of the jubilee celebrations next year, towns across the UK are vying in a civic honours competition to be named a city by the Queen herself.
The cabinet has been recommended to approve the motion and it has the support of Newport and Carisbrooke Community Council. However, members of the corporate scrutiny committee felt differently.
Cllr Richard Quigley said reading the mood music of the Island, it looked like ‘they were trying to push water up a hill with a fork when they decide on things like this’. If it was a good thing he would be in favour of it, he said, but the Island has so many problems and pressing work to do on the Island the council was in danger of doing itself some harm.
Cllr John Medland said he supported the council with its decision but feared the Island would be a laughing stock on this one. Cllr Medland suggested Newport revert back to its town status instead of embarking on the strange idea.
Isle of Wight Association of Local Councils representative, Cllr Cameron Palin, said the bid was not a priority of the people and made the point tourists visit the Island to get away from the city. Despite that, Cllr Chris Quirk said if the city status were to be awarded to Newport, more investment opportunities could be unlocked.
Cllr Joe Robertson said he supported it but without any strength although he thought councillors were viewing the definition of a city as something stereotypical. He said:
“There is great variety of what a city is. St David’s in Wales is some 15 times smaller than Newport.
“The definition of a city is a varied thing and I do not think we should be seeking to make a bid simply on a definition of what it looks like.
“Let’s add variety to what our cities are instead of conforming to a certain role.”
The motion, if approved by cabinet, will come to full council next week, where councillors will be able to vote to create the bid, in time for it to be submitted by the December deadline.
Cllr Richard Quigley said reading the mood music of the Island, it looked like ‘they were trying to push water up a hill with a fork when they decide on things like this.
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such a shame that councillor Quigley appears tone deaf to the mood music on his daft £1.50 landing tax for tourists. He is pushing on a rope with that one.
What rubbish next a six lane motorway from Cowes to Newport
just a old rundown town with empty shops NOT a city
Newport. A dying run down dinghy town surrounded by dirty traffic soaked roads. I cant think of a least like a City place as this. If the council waste £1 on this idea that is a massive waste of taxpayers money.
They probably have spent more ….
Tea/coffee and biscuits, well they had to have a teabreak after all that effort….lol..
You can a kindle an iPad but it’s still a kindle
Newport doesn’t have a cthedral, therefore it can’t be a city.
Don’t be so thick. Has Brighton got a cathedral, has Birmingham got a cathedral? No!!
Have a bit of sense, what are they thinking, you are just going to embarrass yourselves if you think Newport is in league with a city…what nonsense!!!!
Could it be that city councillor sounds more important than town councillor?
I’m afraid the Island is often seen as a laughing stock anyway, the times I’ve heard or seen it referenced as a joke, just considered a place to laugh at, I’ve never really understood why, but it isn’t somewhere that’s ever been taken very seriously. Seems to be seen as somewhere northern pensioners come on holiday and the locals are inbreds (a joke in itself seeing as most people living here come from the mainland and settled here) and full of chavs.
What they been smoking? City dump maybe.
Well, I think it would be good Idea. Newport city centre would be awash with grants from central government to help with the arts and world cultures. We could then at least start to be a true multi diverse society in which we can live in and embrace change like the rest of the country. It would open so many doors,we could even apply to be the host city for the summer Olympics.
Just got back from a trip to Dorset
Went to 6 main place and only saw two shops shut down
Just shows how proud there local council’s are of there sea side resorts
And parking charges wow how cheap they are
Newport is now an embarrassment, god knows what the holiday makers thought of it.
To call it a city certainly would make us a laughing stock.
There is no reason to go there unless you need to go to the bank, oh and maybe B&M !!
B&M is what adds to the embarrassment. To think that building used to house quality shops like Dabells and then BHS. I feel sorry for the staff at B&M having to deal with some of the loudmouthed aggressive customers that on any rare visit I’ve made to the place, always seem to be in there, not the same ones each time, but certainly the same type. Dreadful, also to a certain degree the same type as encountered in Home Bargains, though not quite as bad in there as what I’ve always encountered in B&M .
Waste of time hasn’t stopped the decline of my Newport(Gwent). It still looks like a pumped up town and nowhere near a city.