Bid for Bognor Regis to be UK Town of Culture 2028

Councillors were in full agreement of entering the competition, with a top prize of £3million, at a full council meeting on March 9.

The government’s UK Town of Culture competition aims to ‘celebrate the significant contributions of towns to our national story’.

"The competition focuses on building a more socially cohesive country where communities feel proud of their place and empowered to celebrate it. The UK Town of Culture is an opportunity for places and communities to use culture and creativity to tell their story and why they are proud of their community,” the government said.

The town council was due to have a workshop for members on March 17 and was working with Arun District Council to make it’s expression of interest to the government before the closing date at the end of the month.

Cllr Matt Stanley said he was ‘completely supportive’ of the bid and pointed out how much the town had in terms of artists and heritage, the work already underway to improve the town like the theatre and the Arcade and other highlights like the cinema and school of music and the ‘best bookshop in the whole of Sussex’.

"We have had a lot of bad publicity about Bognor Regis being the worst town,” he said. “This is a chance to showcase our town and show what we have to offer.”

Cllr Michelle White hoped to see the town’s diverse community and young people included and cllr Danny Dawes agreed saying the town was fractured.

"We should be bringing in people from different cultures,” he said. “This is a chance to peel back those fractures and make things stronger.”