Henley to bid for UK Town of Culture title

The town council is expected to submit an expression of interest before the end of the month.

It hopes to be shortlisted for the winning prize of £3.5m to deliver a cultural programme during the summer of 2028.

The competition was announced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport late last year.

It is targeted at small, medium large sized towns to enable them to “tell their story” and highlight the role that towns play in national life. Finalists will be selected from each of the three categories, with two finalists each receiving £250,000.

The government hopes the initiative will “build on the success” of the city of culture programme which in the past was awarded to Derry/LondonDerry, Hull, Coventry and current holder, Bradford.

At a meeting of Henley Town Council’s town and community committee on Tuesday last week, councillors agreed to submit an initial “expression of interest” form, from which a shortlist will be selected.

Councillor Glen Lambert, who chairs the committee, said the town had too much to offer to not make a bid, and added it could benefit from the money. Cllr Gill Dodds suggested the town had a good story to tell and highlighted the Kenton Theatre, in New Street, which at more than 200 years old is the fourth oldest working theatre in the country.

She raised the question of who would put together the bid, which she predicted would be an “enormous job”.

She said: “We are a very arty town, there is so much going on here, we’ve got a theatre, cinema, arts and literary festival and all of the music festivals.

“Who on earth is going to put all of that together? It’s obviously a professional job.

“When you think of cities of culture like Hull and others — they are hugely vibrant and they have had professional advice and the street art and performances and all of the rest of it. It’s a big thing and I don’t know who would like to do that.”

Town clerk Sheridan Jacklin-Edward responded that shortlisted towns will receive £60,000 to help them put together a more comprehensive bid.

He said: “That is to go towards developing that full bid which would involve that sort of professional coordination because it’s not something we would be able to do in house with our current resources.

“Different places have been taking different approaches, some places have already set up a full committee to put together just the expression of interest … some are front loading it quite heavily and going all in.

“I don’t believe we have the resources to do that before the deadline which is end of March.”

Mr Jacklin-Edward offered to submit the expression of interest, which he said was “light touch”, so the bid could be reviewed if successful.

Cllr Ian Reissmann said the prospect of a Henley bid had been brought up at a Henley Society meeting, where it was suggested the prize money could help with the River & Rowing Museum, which is currently on the market for £3m.

Cllr Lambert suggested the affluent image of the town could disadvantage it against competitors.

Mr Jacklin-Edward said: “Reading between the lines of the assessment criteria and what has been written in press releases, I do have a feeling that Henley may not be what they have in mind. I could be very wrong but that is just my feeling.”

Cllr Sarah Miller said: “Probably because they only know Henley as the royal regatta, [but] we have got so much more.”

Cllr Reissmann said: “Maybe that is a good pitch, saying, ‘we’re more than just a regatta’.”

Towns must submit an expression of interest before the end of March.

They will be judged on three categories — the unique story of the town, how the town will design a cultural programme for all, and how it will then deliver a successful programme.

The bids for the 2028 title will be assessed by an independent expert advisory panel chaired by Sir Phil Redmond.

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