BARNSLEY narrowly missed out on winning a prestigious award to be named the greatest town in the UK earlier this week.
The town was shortlisted as one of three finalists for ‘The Great Town Award’ as part of The Urbanism Awards and went up against Chelmsford in Essex and Paisley in Renfrewshire the winner.
Barnsley’s nomination shows recognition for the ‘strong character and identity’ of the town and its residents and recognises the successful delivery of some key projects over the recent years such as the Digital Media Centre and Gateway Plaza.
A panel of assessors visited Barnsley during the summer where they toured the town and undertook an evaluation on a range of factors, including local character, health and well-being, commercial success, leadership and environmental sustainability.
Coun Roy Miller said: “We are delighted to have been named in the final three for this award, which is a huge vote of confidence in our town.
“We enjoyed welcoming the team from the Academy of Urbanism to Barnsley and showing them what makes our town so special from the splendour of our civic buildings to the locals who give our town its unique character.”
The awards are run by the Academy of Urbanism and every year hands out awards in categories of city, town, neighbourhood, street and place.
The aim is to promote and celebrate great places in the UK, Ireland and Europe.
