A leading politician has talked up Wrexham's chances of being named UK City of Culture 2025 after confidently declaring "we will win".
Wrexham Council executive board member Hugh Jones has presented the case for the county borough to move to the next stage of its application to hold a year of cultural festivities.
In October, Wrexham was one of eight places in the UK long-listed to become the next city of culture, and the only location in Wales.
Hopes are high that it will succeed after bookmakers made the area the joint-favorite to replace current hosts Coventry.
There was also widespread political support for the bid at a meeting of senior councilors held on Tuesday December 7.
Convservative group leader Cllr Jones said winning locations had attracted millions of pounds in extra investment, creating jobs and drawing thousands of visitors. He said "It's a really exciting opportunity for the whole of the county of Wrexham to have this status.
"If we look at the report, we can see the prize that is on offer when you see the benefits that those critics that have won city of culture have gained.
"In Hull, for example, there was £219m of investment and 800 jobs spread across the whole community. In Coventry, there was £15m in UK Government grants and £100m in capital investment. We've got a hard task ahead of us, but we've got the resources and we've got a huge cross section of the community already behind us. There is a wellspring of support for this. We will build on it, we will go forward and we will win."
Cllr Jones, the council's lead member for people, previously voiced concerns that the application could be tarnished by a separate and more controversial bid for Wrexham to become a city.
Those proposals were also backed by executive board members today but he made clear it was not necessary to become a city to earn the cultural title, with regions and towns invited to apply. The culture bid was supported by Plaid Cymru councillors, who expressed opposition to the city status plans.
Original story in The Leader.
