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This piece was first published in the brilliant Colchester 101 magazine. Copies are available for free around pubs, shops and other public places in the town.

Now is not a good time to be a politician in power. On the national level and you are seen as the bogey man swinging the big axe and making cuts to local authorities. Meanwhile, back at the Town Hall and any local politician in power has to put up with the blame for cutting back on local services.

What Colchester Borough Council needs is some from of promotion; a campaign to raise awareness of the town and to talk up the benefits that the borough has. Ah - did someone mention a cabinet member for Economic Development, Culture and Tourism?

Councillor Nick Barlow would be your man then. Nick is a LibDem Cllr for the Castle ward, as well as the cabinet member with the fancy title for talking all about what is good within our town. He calls it the “work and play” portfolio. Short of handing out free cupcakes to commuters at North Station, Nick’s role is to give Colchester some love.

It is precisely this positive approach that we like here at 101, and so what better than to sit round a table at the Town Hall and hear from work and play politician as to why Colchester is so cool.

But first, a bit of politics.

Boo!

The basics are that CBC is currently governed by a coalition. This may cause problems on the national stage, but historically it comes as second nature to Colchester. The LibDem / Labour coalition is made up 26 Cllr’s from the Love Me I’m a Liberal lot, supported by seven red flag flying Comrades. The blue rinse opposition holds 24 seats.

Cllr Barlow was first elected in May 2007. He has held his work and play cabinet post since February 2010. This roughly coincides with the complete crash of the economy as local authority cuts start to bite. Frontline services are of course crucial - so why then are the arts so important to Colchester?

“We’ve moved Culture and Tourism under Economic and Business. Other Councils treat them as leisure. We think that it is an important part of the Colchester economy. The area had four and a half million visitors last year. The cultural and media industries are one of the biggest employers in Colchester.

There are lots of little companies involved in media, such as the people working out of 15 Queen Street - they are a very important part of the Colchester economy. It helps to make us distinct. As a Council we provide funding to the Mercury Theatre, Colchester Arts Centre and firstsite. This isn’t just for their core operations but for their outreach work in the community. People then visit Colchester, which brings money and jobs into the local economy.”

Treating the arts as an industry is fine stance to take. The figures also stack up to support this - the 15 Queen Street creative hub is currently at capacity, with paid up members working out of the site and bringing in business. But walk along the High Street on a Saturday afternoon, and it would take a bit more than a love of the arts to persuade most locals that culture is the future of the Colchester economy. What is the perception of Colchester, both from within, and more crucially, outside of the town?

“We’re doing some research on this at the moment. We are in the process of putting a bid into the National Lottery for £5m to help redevelop the Castle. We are finding that it is perceived as a historical and heritage town, as well as a modern cultural hub for the entire East of England region. The Mercury is nationally renowned, there’s the work at the University and firstsite opening soon. Local bands are just starting to come to the surface nationally through the work of Keep Colchester Cool.”

Ah yes - about that cultural hub for all of the East of England. We must be talking about *shhh* firstsite here. If you happen to be a LibDem MP representing Colchester at Westminster, then firstsite is a waste of money. Thankfully at a more hyperlocal level, our cabinet man with the tourist hat disagrees with his party colleague, Bob Russell:

“The core activity for firstsite is art. It’s providing a central art gallery. But it’s also a hub and space that will revitalise the whole area around St Botolph’s. There is a creative business centre coming to the old police station. The site will also house a restaurant, shops and smaller galleries. There is a very big education remit as well. All of these will completely re-develop the area.”

But it will take a bit more than a love of the arts per se to convince our esteemed local MP of the value that the project can bring to the town. Bob Russell is on Hansard, stating:

“It was decided what Colchester needs was not something to do with history, but rather a Visual Arts Facility to promote contemporary Latin American art. Such art is a subject the people of Colchester constantly talk about. Actually, I think not. The original project price of that facility was £16m. Today, the construction of the facility is running approximately four years late and £8.5m over budget.”

Whoops.

That’s a lot of wonga to be found locally during these days of savage cuts (coming from Mr Russell’s coalition party at a national level…) But no worries - firstsite may be over budget, but as Cllr Barlow explains, the money is not a drain upon local Council Tax payers:

“firstsite is costing somewhere in the region of £25m - £30m. Of course we should be spending money on health, education, roads etc. But very little of the firstsite money has come from Colchester Borough Council. It will be our building, but the money came principally from the Arts Council, the old Development Agency, the University and Essex County Council.

That money was always going to be invested. If it didn’t come to Colchester then it may have gone to Chelmsford or Ipswich. Building firstsite will bring in an extra half a million tourists. It will increase our local profile, our income through tourism and subsequently generate further taxes.”

And so it’s all about continued growth - speaking of which, what is the council’s current policy on bidding to grant Colchester a city status?

“The council doesn’t have a policy yet - there is a range of views covering yes, no and everything in-between. We are having discussions on how to proceed. My personal view is that given the conditions - they don’t want huge bids with large amounts of money being spent - I think we should go for it. This is a great promotional opportunity. My understanding is that Colchester is Britain’s first city anyway. We were a city when we were founded by the Empress Claudia.

City status doesn’t bring any requirement for growth. We have grown as a town dramatically in the past ten years. One of the reasons that we will continue to grow is because we are a very attractive place. People see Colchester, they hear about the schools and they want to live here and bring up their families.”

Castle Park is a place of genuine beauty; likewise for High Woods Country Park and the other valued green spaces around the town. The museums in Colchester are greatly valued (witness the campaign that saved Tymperleys Clock Museum) and we have a thriving local theatre scene. Won’t the savage cuts being handed down from a national level make the work and play cabinet role something of a compromise?

“There will be cuts in arts funding next year of around 17%. Other Councils have cut the arts budget completely. Some cuts have come from the museums budget. We are working to be more efficient. It is hard. The main government grant has been slashed. There are certain things that we have to do such as maintaining the roads and keeping the streets clean. Other areas such as parks, museums and arts - we don’t have to do these.

We choose to because they are good for the borough. We are trying to get cultural organisations to work closer together. One thing we have done is to put in place a joint management arrangement with Ipswich museums. We have saved money as there is only one museum education department in both towns.”

And if you don’t like it, then you play your part in the democratic process and cast your vote. Which with apt timing comes around once again in May of this year. CBC operates a slightly weird election by thirds model - twenty new councillors out of the sixty in the chamber are elected at any one time. The LibDem / Lab coalition could come to an end. It could continue with an increased majority…

Either way, the cabinet post for Economic Development, Culture and Tourism will no doubt continue to thrive. Councillor Barlow clearly has the genuine love of Colchester at his heart. He is playing a delicate balancing act between bigging up the town and making sure that the budget books stays in the black.

These are interesting times ahead in Colchester on the culture front. They could be the defining mark on the town to carry us forward to the next generation.

You can follow Cllr Barlow on twitter at @nickjbarlow - he really is very good at online interaction - or engage with his blog over at: www.nickbarlow.com.