Member News
By Gerrard Clark - 23rd June 2011
MPs discussed the importance and future maintenance of Hadrian’s Wall in a Westminster Hall debate yesterday.
“Hadrian’s Wall is of great importance to the economy not just of my constituency of Carlisle but of the north of England, from Wallsend to the Solway,” said Tory MP John Stevenson, who secured the debate.
He said the wall has become a significant tourist attraction, bringing thousands of people to the area.
“All such visits bring much-needed investment to the area, which helps to support existing businesses as well as creating new ones,” Stevenson said.
In 2006 Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd was formed to maintain and manage the Wall, a UNESCO world heritage site.
However, most of Hadrian’s Wall and the land surrounding it is private property.
Stevenson said it would “make sense for much if not all of the ownership of the wall and relevant surrounding land to be transferred in the company’s ownership”.
He asked the under-secretary for culture to help identify sources of funding for the company.
“Given the economic difficulties that we are in, funding for the marketing of the wall will be reduced and that could have a knock-on effect on the economy of the local area,” Stevenson said.
“If we do not promote the wall sufficiently, that will result in a decline in the area’s economic activity.”
Tourism minister John Penrose said:
“On the importance of the wall to tourism, I do not think it is possible to overstate that importance.
“However, for whatever reason, we are faced with a far tighter economic and fiscal situation.
"Therefore, everyone is having to cut their cloth to fit.”
Penrose said that the plan to transfer ownership to Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd would be slow and impractical.
Instead, he suggested a “little quicker and simpler” strategy of some kind of membership-related approach.
The minister told Stevenson that he is “speaking a similar language in terms of what we want to achieve”.
“I think that we have slightly different recipes for how the issue might be addressed,” said Penrose.
He did not go into exact details of how this membership scheme would be achieved.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd
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