'Get the basics right' - Councillors react after Middlesbrough misses out on City of Culture shortlist

A councillor has told her local authority to get the simple things right following the town’s failure to be shortlisted for a prestigious award.

Independent Councillor Joan McTigue said Middlesbrough Council needed to get the basics sorted before applying to be the UK City of Culture.

Earlier this week, judges confirmed that Middlesbrough has missed out on being shortlisted to be named the UK City of Culture for 2029. The prize is awarded every four years and was most recently handed to Bradford for 2025.

The holder for 2029 will be announced at the beginning of next year and the recipient will get £10m to deliver a year of cultural events.

Coun McTigue cited examples of issues in the town – not just in her Longlands and Beechwood ward – which she described as “the basics”, such as a “rotten” public bench along Marton Road, close to the Middlesbrough Sports Village.

She said: “The number of people who drive past there, why could [the council] not get it mended?”

She spoke of a reliance from the council on members of the public and councillors to report such blights, highlighting another example in North Ormesby, where Coun McTigue said she had tried to get a wall fixed “some months ago”, without success, adding: “You cannot be a city of culture when you aren’t getting the basics right.”

Another councillor, Conservative David Coupe said he was “disappointed” that the town was “missing out on things again”, adding: “It would have done the town a world of good.”

However, the Stainton and Thornton ward councillor said he wasn’t surprised at the outcome “because of the proximity” of previous winners. Hull was the UK City of Culture back in 2017.

Middlesbrough had launched an ambitious bid to claim the prize in March and was longlisted alongside eight other towns and cities across the country. More than 2,000 residents, arts and community organisations and local businesses contributed to the bid.

Having failed to be shortlisted, it is now down to Blackpool, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Wrexham to battle it out to be UK City of Culture 2029.

Rather than dwelling on the news, the council announced that Middlesbrough will stage an ambitious programme of events in 2030 to celebrate the town’s 200th birthday. The council says that Boro 2030 will build on the town’s City of Culture bid.

Middlesbrough Labour Mayor Chris Cooke said working on the bid had galvanised people across Middlesbrough and laid the foundations for the next chapter. He said: “We’re disappointed not to have made the final four but we’re proud that the bid process has brought people together around a shared ambition for Middlesbrough.”