 CITY Labour chief Joe Anderson today walked away from his Capital of Culture role and accused the festival board of failing to deliver on its promises. In a hard-hitting attack he said the Culture Board and the Culture Company were:
FAILING to engage communities and real people.
FAILING to provide a 2008 events programme that excited people.
FAILING to provide a worthwhile legacy for the city and missing the chance to kick-start creative industries.
He lashed the council for “mismanaging” the 08 funding equation and leaving Liverpool £20m short. Cllr Anderson vowed to fight on from his position as Opposition Group leader in an effort to ensure the city delivered the best-possible Capital of Culture. He said: “Wherever I go I have community groups say that they don’t feel part of Capital of Culture. “People are constantly complaining about over emphasis on city-centre investment and when you visit parts of Speke and see the dereliction there it really hits home. “I’ve been going round mounting a robust defence of Capital of Culture but my heart hasn’t been in it.” Cllr Anderson claimed 08 had moved away dramatically from the promises within the bid document that persuaded the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to award Liverpool the Culture accolade in 2003. He said: “I met the judges – Jeremy Isaacs, Tessa Sanderson – and told them all about the communities and our bid’s aspirations for them. “But these aspirations simply haven’t been met.” Cllr Anderson – born in the city centre just yards from the Paradise Street development – also refused to acknowledge that the so-called “2008 effect” had played a massive part in the city’s fast-paced economic renaissance. He said: “It’s a myth. The renaissance is real but it was begun by European Objective One funding and maintained by government grants. “Don’t forget that when the bid document was launched the Grosvenor shopping development was already in the bag as was development of the King’s Dock. Renaissance was kicking in anyway.” Cllr Anderson also claimed artsorganisations and creative companies have been betrayed by the way 08 has been developed and have suffered from lack of involvement and no worthwhile legacy. He pointed to Liverpool’s literary legends Alan Bleasdale and Willy Russell as people who should have been consulted and utilised, perhaps in the creation of theatre schools to develop young talent post-2008. He said: “I ask myself what the legacy benefits will be and I can’t really answer that question. The Tall Ships coming back again? A bigger Mathew Street Festival? “There is no cultural legacy – only lack of involvement and vision.” It was an open secret in political circles that Cllr Anderson was struggling to reconcile his role on a cross-party and public-private sector board with his position as the city’s premier voice of opposition to the ruling Lib Dem Group which controls culture activity. He now believes he can work more effectively “unfettered” by collective responsibility. He added: “I’m now free to make whatever comments I deem constructive – sometimes positive, sometimes critical. “I’ve felt for months that talking to some members of the culture board is like banging your head on a brick wall. “Everything is met by defensiveness or accusations of negativity.” Cllr Anderson said he believed the culture board was guilty of building up unreasonable expectations about the festival from the word go. He said: “This festival will not be the wealth-creating, job-creating panacea for all the city’s ailments that it was cracked up to be. “There is still time to provide people with the opportunity to take part and also to give the cultural sector better opportunities to participate. “And if there’s one good thing to emerge from all the money that’s been spent it’s that the city has got a re-branding. It might be money well spent. We now need to have confidence in what the city has to offer.” Cllr Anderson said he would continue “with passion” to promote the city in a positive way. “This isn’t about party politics. It’s about me as a person and a Liverpudlian. And about a city with a legacy of debt.” Joe Anderson on ..... >>> | 
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