Hastings misses out on City of Culture shortlist

Judges emailed their decision to the 11 candidates at 11am this morning.

Leicester, Hull, Swansea and Dundee were selected for the short list with bookies favourite Chester missing out.

It brings to end a frantic two months of hard campaigning by the borough council.

But campaigners say they will learn from the experience and carry on the good work.

Council spokesman Kevin Boorman said: “We are very disappointed that the bid by Hastings & 1066 Country to be the UK City of Culture 2017 has not been shortlisted.

“A lot of work was done by a lot of people in a very short space of time and we are very grateful to all those partners who have helped.

“A huge momentum has gathered locally in support of our bid and we are determined to build on this very positive work.

“We will now be working with partners to decide how best to take this forward.”

Council leader Jeremy Birch said: “We are very disappointed but we’ve done fantastically well from a standing start.

“We had some outstanding ideas and have created some momentum locally.

“We will sit down and work out which ideas we can achieve now such as the march from York.

“We remain the most famous town in the country. Culture is a vital part of our community.

“We may consider a bid for 2021 but there is a lot to get done before then.

“I do believe we can still go for public and private money just by using the 1066 badge.

“The fantastic publicity we generated could not have been bought. Graham Norton backing us to the hilt on his Radio Two show last week.

“My guess is the bid would have looked the same if we started a year earlier. Our staff and cultural advisors have done a fantastic job.

“We’re disappointed but we are not down hearted.”

A second symposium will held on July 15 at De La Warr Pavilion to discuss future plans. It starts at 10am with refreshments from 9.30am.