Dynamic Dundee can bounce back

It was very tough last week to be sitting on my sofa and finding out that Dundee had lost its bid to be UK City of Culture 2017.

We broadcast the announcement from Culture Secretary Maria Miller live at 7.45 am on Wednesday morning’s show, and I couldn’t hide my disappointment when she told the nation that Hull was the winner.

Although I gave my congratulations to everyone in Hull, I have to admit I was near tears as it was a massive blow and I honestly thought we had a really good chance of winning.

I was genuinely gutted I’d even worn my special Dundee shoes, but sadly it wasn’t enough.

The team responsible for the Dundee bid had worked like Trojans and put their hearts and souls into it. They could not have done more.

There is, however, one thing that Dundonians are very good at, and that is picking themselves up, dusting themselves down and starting all over again. And there’s a lot to look forward to.

The waterfront development is going to be phenomenal and work will start soon on the V&A museum.

It will be hugely exciting and bring visitors to the city from all over the world, in the same way that people flock to the northern Spanish city of Bilbao to visit the Guggenheim Museum.

Dundee might have lost out on the prospect of a multi million pound cash injection from a big range of cultural events as the city of culture, but many will still go ahead anyway, so it’s not all doom and gloom.

Even as the team behind the bid cope with their disappointment, they are already planning some exciting and innovative activities for the city.

So while winning the City of Culture title would have been the cherry on top of the cake, we still have a pretty darned impressive cake . . . and that is yet another thing that Dundee is very good at!