April 2013
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Government allays Le Tour cost fears with £10m pledge By Sandie Marshall THE Government has pledged £10m to support the Tour de France visit to Yorkshire next year. Welcome to Yorkshire beat fierce competition from other countries to secure the opening two stages of the Tour, due to sweep through Honley, Holmfirth and Holme Moss on July 6 2014. But since the initial excitement of the route announcement in January, fears had been growing that hosting the world’s greatest cycle race would prove too expensive for local councils, with huge costs for organisation, policing, stewarding and administration. Kirklees – like all other councils on the Tour’s Yorkshire route – has already promised £300,000 towards the cost of staging the race. More
funding was expected from UK Sport, but when the national agency seemed to be dragging its feet, a group of Yorkshire MPs decided to take swift action. Among them was Holme Valley’s Jason McCartney. He said: “Welcome to Yorkshire did all the hard work and an amazing job in securing the event for Yorkshire. “The economic boost it will bring will be massive in tourism and publicity. “However, unlike other big sports events like the Olympics and the World Cup, we can’t generate direct income from it – we can’t sell tickets, sponsorship or TV rights to cover the costs. “When we heard the UK Sport was asking questions about the funding we requested an emergency meeting
with Culture Secretary Maria Miller and gained her guarantee that the Government will underwrite the event up to £10m.” Planning for the Yorkshire Grand Depart is already underway. Welcome to Yorkshire and Kirklees Council are hosting a roadshow on April 18 at Huddersfield Town Hall. This will cover the latest activity with the Tour and a chance to gain information about the cultural festival that will be held in the 100 days leading up to the event. There will also be tips and tricks for local businesses to ensure they make the most of the opportunity. The roadshow is free to attend but everyone should register beforehand by contacting jkendall@yorkshire.com via email or by phoning 0113 322 3564.
A packed programme for the fourth Holmfirth Film Festival features writer, presenter and journalist Will Self, who will be appearing at the Picturedrome on May 20. With clips from his favourite films, Will will talk about his adventures in researching his latest book Walking to Hollywood, and will give his own typically dry observations on the state of today’s movie industry. For more details of this year’s Film Festival programme, turn to page 5. Picture: Dean Kuipers.