Perth is on course to become the most desirable place to live and work in Scotland, according to an MSP.
But after Liz Smith set out Perth’s stall to become the UK city of culture in 2021, her Conservative colleague Murdo Fraser has warned that the city will struggle to be seen as a serious contender unless broadband coverage improves.
Ms Smith told a Holyrood debate Perth is seeing theatre redevelopment, city centre regeneration and “exciting plans” to develop a cultural quarter.
“In short, it is a plan to ensure that Perth city becomes the most desirable place in Scotland in which to live, work, invest and enjoy a rich diversity of cultural experience, as well as a plan that will improve connectivity, develop the knowledge economy, and strengthen the opportunities for business and tourism,” she said.
Mr Fraser backed the bid but said it would only be a serious contender if it is hauled into the modern internet age.
He said: “Sadly, too much of Perth continues to lag behind, with broadband and internet speeds falling way behind what is expected in the 21st Century.”
Winning the status would provide an estimated £60 million boon for the economy and is tipped to attract hundreds of thousands of extra visitors to the city.
The bid comes on the back of a wider strategy for Perth’s future, including major redevelopment of the city centre and housing developments at Bertha Park and Inveralmond.
Councillors agreed to spend £250,000 as part of its attempt to secure the title. If granted the status, Perth would succeed where Dundee had failed. The City of Discovery lost out to Hull for the 2017 title. Among the cities Perth is up against for 2021 are Paisley, Coventry and Cardiff.
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrats leader and a Mid Scotland and Fife MSP, said as well as being a “thriving cultural community”, the city has “pockets of poverty”.
“The opportunities that are created from the process and the investment that would come with it would lift up many hundreds of people in Perth and the wider area who could do with a helping hand,” he said.
George Adam, the SNP’s Paisley MSP, was a dissenting voice in the debate. “Perth may be the heart of Scotland, but the great town of Paisley is the centre of the known universe and its buddies have their eye on the prize,” he said.
Among the evidence put forward by MSPs to back up Perth’s case was Scone Palace, the redevelopment of Perth Theatre, Mill Street regeneration, Fergusson Gallery and the city’s festival of arts.
Culture secretary Fiona Hyslop said Perth is “going places” and wished the city well on its “cultural journey”.
The first-stage bids are due in April 2017.