Port Talbot’s bid to become the first UK Town of Culture has a new figure at its head, with just over two months left to finish it.
Gemma Charnock has been appointed independent chair of the Neath Port Talbot Culture Partnership, the body delivering the bid, with Neath Port Talbot Council acting as the accountable body.
The full bid has to be in by 30 November. If it wins, the town receives £3m for a programme of culture in 2028.
Port Talbot and the Afan Valley were shortlisted in July, one of 15 towns picked from 398 applications. That brought £60,000 to develop the full bid, and a Welsh rival, Pontypridd, in the same category.
“Our Town; Our Story”, and residents asked to shape it
The bid’s theme is “Our Town; Our Story”. The partnership says it came out of work with the community, and it wants residents, community groups, volunteers and businesses to help decide what goes into the programme.
A series of community engagement events will run in the coming weeks, up to the 30 November deadline, the partnership says. Details are on the bid’s website.
Ms Charnock said that while the bid is led by the partnership and the council, “it belongs to the community”.
“The theme ‘Our Town; Our Story’ has emerged from the voices of local people and reflects the character, creativity and resilience that define Port Talbot,” she said.
She said she wanted a bid that “not only celebrates what makes the area unique but also creates a lasting legacy for communities long beyond 2028”.
The college solicitor now steering Port Talbot’s £3m bid
Ms Charnock is vice principal of corporate services and group company secretary at NPTC Group of Colleges. She is a qualified solicitor with more than 20 years’ experience.
The partnership says she has worked with councils, the Welsh Government, employers and community organisations on regional skills, regeneration and workforce planning.
Cllr Cen Phillips, the council’s cabinet member for nature, tourism and wellbeing, said her appointment came “at a timely point” for the bid. He said her experience would help “keep local voices at the heart of the process”.
As well as the bid, the partnership is responsible for the county borough’s culture strategy, which covers arts, heritage and the wider cultural sector.
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