Dumfries city status bid inches closer
Report by James Mahon
Dumfries is moving closer to becoming a city.
A cross-party council vote a few weeks ago has led to a task force being established to prepare the royal burgh for a potential city status as part of a competition being run to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee next year.
Provost Tracey Little and Dumfries business owner Mark Jardine are spearheading the committees preparing the application which is due in just over a month's time.
Cllr Little said: "Included in that working group are different groups and organisations, members of the public, community councils, high school pupils, all relevant to the actual bid and to sort of progress it along from all different angles, we have three separate sub-groups at the moment, one is addressing the bid, the other about images and logos and the final one about communications."
Mark Jardine, a Dumfries business owner, is actively involved in the committees and believes city status in 2022 could transform his community.
Support for the committees and subcommittees is also coming from the Chamber of Commerce.
Not everyone in the south of Scotland is happy about the proposal though.
Alan Hanlin is a Dumfries resident and historian.
He said: "It has a long history from the times of the wars of independence to now, being a city status, what does that give us? Will the rates go up? Will things improve, will we get more money from the UK or Scottish government? I don't think the Scottish Government will give us much, they are more interested in the central belt, so for many reasons I think we should remain a royal burgh and take pride in the fact that we are a royal burgh"
Other towns bidding for city status include Reading and Middlesbrough, Swindon's council voted down moving ahead with their application.
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