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The bid document is irrelevant. You don't need that to realise that Warrington has been subject to years of cultural cleansing from the council. It hardly seems credible that months after the council tried to shut all of the town's libraries, turn down yet another chance to build a theatre and shrug when asked to find a site for a statue of Joseph Priestley, not to mention being named the least cultural place in the UK, it tried to enter this competition. I just hope that the council and local media are stung by this latest news and finally do something positive about culture in the town. Early indications are that this is the last thing that will happen. The council will continue to treat the whole place as a numbers game and the local media won't take them on about it. As ever, it will be down to local people to do and preserve what they can.

The thing is Gary, Warrington isn't. And not just by a little. It's a million miles behind even a city like Stoke, with all its challenges. Until the local media and council identify and accept that, nothing will change. As I said before, even a small town like Newcastle under Lyme has more to offer than Warrington. The town is a cultural backwater and it's only been the action of residents standing up to the council that has ensured Warrington has something left to offer culturally, however little. How many RSA reports and rejections do you need to see things for what they are? If the council had its way, there'd be no libraries and no Walton Hall for a start. It's only residents and local groups that ensure there are any green spaces and cultural life at all. The council's vision is purely shit housing estates, out of town retail and business parks with everybody moving between them in cars on inadequate roads. No amount of sloganeering from the council and well-meaning but deluded councillors like Dan Price is going to cover that. I hope the council wakes up soon and people like you start to put real pressure on them instead of making statements like this. Until then, it's up to the people to preserve whatever culture and heritage the town has.