Falklands beats out Cayman to secure first OT city
(CNS): Port Stanley, the capital of the Falklands Islands, has become the first town in a British Overseas Territory to win the competition for city status, and Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man, is the first town on a Crown Dependency to be given the same honour. However, the Cayman Islands’ application for George Town to become an official city, one of 38 bids seeking city status as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, was unsuccessful, though Governor Martyn Roper said it was a close-run thing.
“I know many of you will join me in my disappointment in learning that despite a very strong application George Town has not been successful in achieving City Status,” Roper said in a press release issued from London, where he is on an official visit. “I know an incredible amount of work by the Cayman Islands Government went into the application and we were very close. However, there were a considerable amount of applications.”
He added that Cayman should take pride in the quality of the application and look ahead to future bidding rounds. “I believe we would stand a very good chance at the next round,” the governor said.
Roper noted that this was also the first time any BOT or and Crown Dependencies were eligible to bid and the Falklands is marking the 40th anniversary of the war, which probably swung things in its favour.
Bangor in Northern Ireland, Colchester, Doncaster and Milton Keynes in England, Dunfermline in Scotland and Wrexham in Wales were also awarded city status. There are no prizes or special rights in becoming a city but it is believed to add prestige and encourage tourism.
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Category: Commonwealth, World News
They at least managed to get the application in in time, unlike our submissions to the EU to stay off the gray list!
“There are no prizes or special rights in becoming a city but it is believed to add prestige and encourage tourism.”
So, what’s the point? Oh, I know, you get to have a mayor and a city council that will further drain the public purse.
It says right there it will “encourage tourism”!!!!!
Does this mean that a certain unelected politician who serves on every board imaginable (thus making more money every month than an MP) doesn’t get to be Mayor?
OMG! Quick, call the Privy Council!
We have Health City and Dog City – so not sure why we wasted time with the application?
And let’s not forget the previous one, Tent City.
Include Stingray City and we could be like the ancient Greeks with City States.
George town could never be a city lets face it. Nothing there. Caymanabay city now , whooooooooo
Port Stanley looks good no overdevelopment there thank goodness! Right decision no beach erosion either Not overrun with work permit holders and traffic jams Congratulations Falklands And do doubt a decent Governor from their success too. Poor old Cayman with all her so called clout and Goodwill just don’t get it ! Still believing in men who cannot govern themselves!
You have obviously never been there, and have no idea where it is. It’s not overrun with work permit holders because it’s a tiny economy based on sheep farming and fishing, and lives under constant threat of Argentinian reinvasion in the British stop basing the RAF there. No traffic jams because ethers are hardly any roads , and if you go off road anywhere around Port Stanley you better watch out for the still uncleared Argentinian minefields. No over development is right – basically no development at at all with most homes still wooden construction. It’s very beautiful if you like wild and desolate, but a very basic economy. No
Obvious choices really. Of the options, Douglas and Port Stanley are clearly the most British.
Does anyone really care? I don’t!
Port Stanley, the capital of the Falklands Islands, has become the first town in a British Overseas Territory to be granted city status.
I thought Hamilton in Bermuda had city status already ?
CNS: Yes, you are correct. I have slightly reworded the article. Sorry.
@11:43 and CNS:
This exchange is indicative of the irrelevance of city status. An astute member of the media was apparently unaware of the first BOT “city” granted status and no one until now questioned it. I am well traveled and up on geography and had no idea, until reading about the CIG putting GT in the city gong hat, that the Queen grants “city” status.
I note that it is deemed an honour and a boost by the little obscure towns to be officially named as a city. I see no such advantage to George Town, Cayman Islands.
In doing some research on British city status, while it may have been somewhat of a big deal in far past history, it is now more akin to The Emperor’s New Clothes: everyone Ooo’s and Ahhh’s about it, but it has no real substance. Some articles on the subject claim an economic or tourism boost, but fail to make a clear causality association demonstrating that being granted city status was the direct cause of that increase.
While official UK websites make claims of economic boosts from being declared a city they offer no substantiation of that claim that I can find. Thus far, I can find only one person that might qualify as having done scholarly research on the subject: Dr. Steve Musson, Lecturer in Political and Economic Geography at the University of Reading and said to be an expert in City Status. Dr. Musson stated in an interview on city status: “Becoming a city is all about local pride and the buzz created in communities”, he goes on to say, “The evidence linking city status to economic success is mixed. For every place that experiences growth after becoming a city, there are others that don’t see direct economic benefits. Although no new powers or funding is directly associated with becoming a city, winners often hope it can be a catalyst for regeneration and future success.”
The average estimated cost of the application process is GBP£10,000. I should hope that our cost was not more than average. Has anyone disclosed our cost?
In response to comments that suggest that we can’t, without the Queen’s permission, call George Town a city: Prof. John Beckett, who has written a book on the subject, has this to say: “There never has been any privileges. It’s always been a status thing, nothing more. There’s nothing to stop places declaring themselves a city–Dunfermline did it.” (I again remind readers of the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes.)
The insignificance of city status is illustrated by a knee-slapper of an occurrence: A chartered city can stop being a city overnight. Rochester lost its city status in 1998 due to a technical oversight when the local government structure was reorganised. It took four years for them to realise they had lost it.
My parting thought: If city status entails needing a mayor, or any further addition to our budget, or may result in an increase in our already bloated bureaucracy, being granted City status is the last damn thing in God’s green Earth that we need.
What an excellent, informative post (not being sarcastic – I mean it). Well said Sir/ Madam.
Long post on something so irrelevant.
You wouldn’t be saying that if GT won it and promptly appointed a major and council. Or when you see how much was spent on the application.
The poster’s first sentence:
‘This exchange is indicative of the irrelevance of city status.’
Who cares? Why do people spend so much time, energy and resources on stuff that has no importance whatsoever? How about investing the time in finding a cure for cancer or doing something else worthwhile?
We’ve already got Dog City… why do we need another one?
Low blow.
Health City?
Car City?
We already have a city in Cayman and it didn’t need no stinking royal warrant or whatever the hell they do to citify a place:
Dog City!
We just need to put the sign back up Welcome to Dog City.
So tek dat!
Yeah – we can tours to Dog City for the cruisies – get to se the real Caribbean.
I have been to places where tour buses go through far shabbier areas than Dog City.
Who cares. How many of the Covid era school graduates will get help as young adults??
No worries. No big loss. No need to make any future application to be a “City”. Good governance is needed, not City status, which means nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Why did an ‘incredible amount of work’ go into something so utterly pointless? We’d all much rather see an incredible amount of work going into the civil service actually providing a semi- acceptable level of service, which far too often it does not.
No surprise!
Maybe if Jamaica invades us and the UK comes to our rescue, 40 years from now GT can be a city too?
Maybe if we rename it George City they’ll know we’re serious.
“I know an incredible amount of work by the Cayman Islands Government went into the application”
Good to know they are spending time on what really matters. Must be great turning up to ‘work’ knowing you will be ‘working’ all day on some childish application to turn a town into a city.
They probably spent more time on this application than on planing the revitalisation of GT.
Camana Bay has more chance of gaining city status before GT, which is dying a slow death.
Agree but C’Bay is make believe. No heritage, no historical reference, essentially an architectural zit on the face of Cayman.
Yea, just like GT.
So what? It is what we need today.
That sounds like a description of George Town.
you could say the same about gt. i love both locations.
If Caymana Bay is make believe, that would make it a most appropriate place to receive a make believe status from a make believe monarch.
Camana Bay is in George Town.
Does anyone really shiv a git?
Camana Bay = Dart City
Is there a post-truth race underway to reclassify urban zones without regard for density parameters? Do all the winners receive a certificate of misclassification from the home office? Not enough hugs as a child? So much for the study of Parametric Urbanism in the BOTs.
Um, why doesn’t our parliament just designate GT as a city, if anyone cares? Doesn’t really need a Royal warrant over here does it?
Yes it does need one. Just a territory.
Why? Call it George Town City. The queen will not care.
Call it what you want. It won’t be a city though.
@1:31:
WHo will know that? There are places using the word City all over the world that were not bequeathed the name by the British Monarch. I hardly think most people are going to look up the pedigree to check the bona fides if we call GT The City of George Town.
I think we’ll live.
There is but maybe two original buildings in George Town. For a capital of a country it is disgraceful. building across from anderson Square needs to be redone the fencing at the port is in desperate need of repair buildings with no businesses anymore. George Town itself looks no different than Jamaica or any other third world countries.
Meanwhile a humane swam around Grand Cayman in 37 hour. set a world record and none of our Gov Leaders recognized it or celebrated it,
An act of humane unkindness, presumably? How inhumane…
But like the city application, who cares if someone was able to swim around the island ? Not me and probably not many others
What a nothing subject for George Town, waste of time and effort all round. And before anyone says anything I’m Caymanian.
Oh No! Everyone on this Island will be mortified. George Town will be filled with residents wearing black and in tears, as they struggle to mask their disappointment! Or,
nobody (except the politicians who constantly need to boost their own self-importance) will give it a second thought!
Roper – you are pathetic. What a complete waste of time. Bring back Anwar Choudhury – at least he wasn’t a sycophant!
Time, money and resources
Better still bring back Taylor to put Mac and Kenny where they belong, then clean up the rest of them.
wow…clean up the rest of THEM. hmmm tea and trumpets then?
Yes, Governor Choudhury was a real man, too good for our PPM politicians, this one Roper is pathetic.