Stockport bidding for City status

[Tricky]

There can be no guarantees around the benefits of City Status, but others have seen significant economic impact. Since securing City Status Wolverhampton has benefited from £2bn of inward investment, Newport has secured 2,000 new jobs, Sunderland has seen Nike, Nissan and Barclays locate there and Brighton and Hove’s tourism spend has increased from around £400m to £700m.

from Medway's bid.. http://democracy.medway.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=6327

[Dave]

Can't see why applying to be designated a city should cost much - surely it's just a few forms to fill in ;-)
One of the best long-distance train services in the UK sounds like good transport links to me (I mean the brilliant London service, with a train every 20 minutes taking just two hours)

[Cyberman]

I notice that Stockport, alongside Bolton, are to bid for City status this year - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12414857

Personally this sounds like an expensive waste of money. I would rather live in a small town where rubbish is collected, libraries and public loos are available and flower beds are not turfed over than see money wasted on this status bid.

I note one of council leader Dave Goddards quoted advantage of Stockport is "Transport links". What planet is he on? Obviously hasnt spent half an hour queuing on the M60 when the Tesco roundabout screws up.

What do others think?