...we're officially out of the running. Which is good, as it was a bloody stupid idea. Now we can just concentrate on building that cruise terminal.
Hull loses out on HMS Illustrious tourism bid please log in to view this image Hull has lost out in its bid to turn aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious into a tourist attraction on the city's waterfront. Hull City Council confirmed it had missed out on the Ministry of Defence shortlist for the decommissioned ship. The vessel would have been docked next to aquarium The Deep, for Hull's City of Culture celebrations in 2017. The 20,000-tonne carrier has been retired from the Royal Navy after 32 years of service. Labour leader of the council Stephen Brady said he was "disappointed" at the decision. 'Economically unviable' "We've had a significant amount of public support throughout," he said. "And although we gave it our best shot, it was made clear during the bidding process that the MoD intended to strip the vessel of its historic assets, and were unwilling to provide any long-term funding which, in fact, made it economically unviable as a heritage attraction. Mr Brady said the city intended to continue with its plans to develop a cruise ship terminal. Lib Dem councillor Claire Thomas criticised the Labour authority for spending money on the bid. She said: "There are some really serious questions to ask now about why the council decided that it was a good thing to do to spend over £500,000 on trying to get HMS Illustrious to Hull when actually now it turns out it's not coming." In a statement, the council said it had set aside £540,000 to develop a riverside berth that could be used for cruise ships and other vessels as well as a home for HMS Illustrious. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-29827378 The bit about spending £500k trying to get it here is bollocks, £540k was allocated for research and bidding for both HMS Illustrustrious and a cruise terminal and for building the jetty to house it, but as it's not coming, we're not building the jetty, so the money hasn't been spent and the plans for the cruise terminal are still active. We have wasted some money on it, which was daft as it was never really practical and we were unlikely to be successful, but it's not nearly as much as is being quoted.
Still a shame - not that we didn't get illustrious. But some other maritime vessel of significance would be a good tourist attraction. Royal Yacht Brittania in Edinburgh and HMS Belfast in the Thames - I have been on both and they were VERY busy. it would give an added incentive with the deep and a maritime vessel to visit (other than the spurn lightship).
It would definitely be a good idea to have an attraction, but it would obviously be better if it had some relevance to Hull. They could just shift the Arctic Corsair to a berth outside The Deep.
HCC Press Release... Hull pushes ahead with plans to capitalise on citys maritime location and history following HMS Ill - 30/10/2014 Hull City Council Leader, Councillor Stephen Brady, has today declared that the Council will push ahead with plans for a cruise terminal and other maritime attractions as part of a long-term plan to establish Hull as a world-class visitor destination. Confirming that Hull's bid to bring the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious to the city as a temporary visitor attraction had not made the final shortlist, Councillor Brady said: "Although we are disappointed, the effort and investment we put into bidding with our partners on the City Leadership Board has been incredibly beneficial. "We've had a significant amount of public support throughout, and although we gave it our best shot, it was made clear during the bidding process that the M.O.D intended to strip the vessel of its historic assets, and were unwilling to provide any long-term funding which, in fact, made it economically unviable as a heritage attraction. "HMS Illustrious was just one part of our wider strategy for maximising the economic potential of our waterfront. "In particular, it has moved us closer to realising our ambition to establish a cruise terminal in the city. Hull is an excellent regional base close to the centre's major attractions and a cruise terminal is a must for a port city that is aiming to become a world-class visitor destination. "In addition, our work on Illustrious has created a number of other opportunities that could deliver a huge boost to our visitor economy - the potential to establish a northern branch of the National Museum of the Royal Navy and to open a new gallery for a unique national collection of maritime paintings." The collection of paintings the Council is seeking to bring to Hull is The British Mercantile Marine Memorial Collection (BMMMC) which celebrates the extensive nature of works of art depicting British merchant steam ships in a variety of media: oil, watercolour and other formats. The British Mercantile Marine Memorial Collection can be viewed here: www.thepcf.org.uk/what_we_do/48/reference/823 Funding and spend to date Hull City Council has set aside £540,000 to developing a riverside berth that could be used for cruise ships and other vessels as follows: £80,000 for market and economic assessments for a Cruise Terminal £80,000 for staffing of which £40,000 relates to HMS Illustrious £380,000 has been earmarked for the city centre riverside berth phase one and has not yet been spent
The HMS Illustrious was meant to have a museum, conference centre and restaurant in, I've seen the full plans and they were really good, but totally agree it really needed more hull relevance.
We were right to bid for the lusty. We should be adventurous and ambitious, that’s what got the KC stadium built and won us City Of Culture. The swiftness of the kick in the cock delivered by Councillor Claire Thomas just showed the Lib Dems complete lack of ambition for Hull.
I'd support them being adventurous and ambitious, but it also needs to be practical and I don't think this one ever was.
A better idea would be to try and get European funding for the Heritage Dock idea at St Andrews Quay... please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image http://www.hullnow.co.uk/concepts/heritage-dock
If we ever build another stadium in the city, i always thought building on st andrews quay and incorporating the lordling building would be great!
Always thought turning the old fish docks into a living museum type affair somethink akin to Beamish coal mine/town would have been a good idea. Most of the buildings are still there in varying degrees of repair ie doctors surgery, stores, the odd netloft etc. Would cost a fortune mind. But would be a lasting legacy to the people of Hull
As a slightly related, but slightly off topic thing I saw on iplayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00psz7n/great-british-railway-journeys-series-1-4-pontefract-to-bridlington
She was on the Burnsey show today and I have never heard such a negative bastards in all of my life. Let us not forget they were against the KC, Against city of culture, Against illustrious, Against the ferry terminal and pretty much against HCC spending any money unless it's nailed on before the start. Brady today said he had loads of ideas to improve the city and when Burnsey pointed out that the lib Dem's are negative she started floundering and couldn't come up with one positive idea.
Listened to Brady on the rad this morning and actually felt sorry for him! Doing his best, but wading in treacle...The council either spent £40k on a study or £500k.....depending on who you believe..Labour or the Dems...Brady sounded most sincere..
The council should have bought the boat from Dexter "Slice of Life" it sold recently for $41,000 on ebay. Would have been a nice boat in any planned marina for tourists.
turning St Andrews into a living museum is a no brainer IMO , however you won't have to wait long for the next generation of Hull folk to not really care much for our fishing heritage .
IMHO...Best to move forward and kick the past into touch. Shame the money spent on the illustrious bid couldn't have been used to get rid of some of the eyesores..but guess you can't win them all...
