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Culture club: Has Dundee and Tayside culture been ‘underinvested’?

Dundee's V&A design museum and the RRS Discovery centre, on the city's Waterfront

Dundee, Angus, Perth and North Fife have combined to submit a joint bid to become Scotland’s first ever UK City of Culture, with hundreds of millions of pounds secured by the Tay Cities Deal to support the regions’ many art and culture institutions.

Linked by the longest river in Scotland, the Tay Cities region has a huge number of cultural attractions, including the V&A Dundee, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Arbroath Abbey and St Andrews University.

But now the Scottish Conservatives claim Dundee and Tayside as a whole has not invested enough money or time in culture – comments which have been branded “blatant nonsense”.

North East Tory MSP Tess White said she fears a lack of “professional structure” in the arts could leave the region at a disadvantage, compared to the other 20 entrants, because of “cultural underinvestment” in the region.

SNP Dundee council administration leader John Alexander pointed out half of the local authorities taking part in the bid were run by Scottish Conservative groups and said it was “alarming” how out of touch Ms White’s comments were.

He highlighted the £150 million promised under the Tay Cities Deal which will be injected into cultural projects in the coming years.

‘Underinvestment’

Ms White said: “I am worried that the SNP have underinvested in Tayside’s culture for years.

“There isn’t the professional structure that other parts of Scotland, certainly the UK, enjoy.

Tess White MSP

“Our local authorities are going to have to work so much harder to offset that disadvantage.

“They have been left to just get on with it. But this is far too important a prize for the region to start on the back foot.”

‘Alarming and amusing’

Mr Alexander defended the record of investment and branded the comments “alarming”.

He said: “To anyone that is aware of Dundee’s journey and Tayside as a whole, these comments are blatant nonsense.

“It is somewhat alarming and equally amusing at how out of touch these comments are with reality.

“It should not be lost on anyone that in Tayside, the Conservatives form the administration in half of the councils.

“As well as the millions of pounds supporting culture by the councils, we are collaborating on the delivery of ambitious cultural projects through the Tay Cities Deal, funded by the SNP government, to the tune of £150 million.”

Dundee SNP Council leader John Alexander and Council CEO Greg Colgan at the Eden Project, Cornwall.

He was resonding from Cornwall, at the regions’s Eden Project, which is linked to the next “ambitions cultural project” in Dundee.

Mr Alexander said there has been support for the Museum of Transport, Science Centre refurbishment, RRS Discovery upgrades and the V&A Dundee design museum.”

Tories have ‘nothing positive’ to offer

Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee City East, added: “Tess White is clearly on a steep learning curve in understanding the cultural change that the SNP has helped deliver in Dundee.

Shona Robison MSP

“Both locally and nationally, the SNP has invested in the game-changing V&A, as well as delivering investment for improvements to Dundee Science Centre and RRS Discovery, and supporting the Museum of Transport and of course the amazing Eden project, in addition of course to the support for the Tay Cities Deal which will deliver even further cultural improvements.

“Ms White also appears to have no awareness that in criticising ‘Tayside’s culture’ that two of the three councils are run by her own Tory party.

“This is yet another embarrassing blunder showing how out of touch the Tories are of what is actually going on and that they have absolutely nothing positive to offer Dundee.”