Cornish town withdraws audacious bid to become smallest UK city after government rule change

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A tiny Cornish town bidding to become the UK’s smallest city has withdrawn its application after it was effectively excluded from the process by the government.

Marazion was one of 39 places longlisted last month to have its civic status upgraded as part a competition marking the Queen’s platinum jubilee this year.

Its audacious bid – which focused on the town’s 1,000-year-old links to royalty – would have seen the coastal community of about 1,500 people oust St David’s as the country’s most minute city.

But the town has now pulled out of the running after the Cabinet Office changed the rules to disqualify smaller authorities from pursuing bids.

Marazion Town Council was told just before Christmas that it could continue with its submission – but only if it received written permission from the higher Cornwall Council by this Wednesday.

Volunteers who put together the original bid said the late rule-change did not leave them with enough time to seek the required consent. They have now officially spiked their bid.

“We were astonished to have submitted the application and then get an email from the Cabinet Office, saying, ‘Oh, actually, we’re changing the rule so only primary councils can apply,’” says Richard Stokoe, the town councillor who spearheaded the scheme.

“We’re all volunteers doing this and we spent a huge chunk of time working up the application – it needs historic, cultural and demographic information as well as photos, maps and loads of data. For the rules to suddenly be changed, it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.”

The town’s submission was centred around the fact it is one of the country’s oldest chartered towns and that Edward the Confessor founded a chapel nearby in 1044.

Despite the fact that the town has no cathedral, no university and certainly no mass-transit system – it’s a 10-minute walk from one side to the other – many residents felt that being a city could have boosted the economy of one of the UK’s most beautiful but most deprived regions.

“We wanted to put the place on the map,” says Stokoe, an independent political consultant by profession.

Yet to some extent, that aim has, in fact, already been achieved.

In the fortnight since it was longlisted for city status, the Marazion Chamber of Commerce says town businesses have reported a large uplift in online sales, while the area’s five galleries have all seen their web visitors increase at least fourfold. There is some hope that that will now translate into real visitors next summer.

“St David’s has traded off its ‘smallest city’ status for years,” says Stokoe. “If we end up with a busy summer and a bit more recognition because of this bid, then it’s been worth it.”

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "The competition was open to locations of all sizes and to suggest otherwise is untrue. Previous winners include a number of smaller towns.

"All local authority Chief Executives were contacted early on in the competition to clarify that applications should come from principal authorities.

"Applicants who had entered a bid but hadn't sought permission from their principal council were given additional time beyond the deadline to submit their application.”