THE local community came together last week to discuss ideas to be included in the bid to become the UK’s Town of Culture in 2028.

Some 25 people attended the Larruperz Centre last week as part of a public to help and inform the Town Council for ideas that makes Ross unique from other towns as it prepares a formal initial expression of interest for the Town of Culture bid.

The session was led by Roger Morgan and Steve Freer, who have joined the working group tasked with making the submission.

Mr Morgan was the chairman of the Courtyard for more than 10 years and helped Hereford write its 2021 City of Culture bid. Mr Freer was a TV Producer with the BBC and chairs the Borderlines Film Festival.

Cllr Ed O'Driscoll who is leading on the project for Ross Town Council said: “It was great to see so many people come along and lend their support. We've got loads of ideas to discuss and I think our biggest problem will be deciding what we have to leave out as it's quite a short form.”

Applications for UK Town of Culture 2028 will be judged on three main criteria: the unique story of the town; how the town will design a cultural programme for all and how the town will then deliver a successful programme.

The competition embraces towns of all sizes. There will be three finalists which will include one small town, with under 20,000 population and the one that the Ross Town Council will be aiming for. The other categories are towns with a population of between 20,000 and 75,000, and large towns of over 75,000 population.

Cllr Ed O’Driscoll concluded: “I'm hugely grateful to all members of the working group, especially the non-councillors, who've volunteered their time and considerable expertise to give us a fighting chance.”