'˜Hull really could do a Liverpool!'

The TV producer and screenwriter was in the city as plans were revealed to continue the arts programme for 20 years beyond Hull’s 2017 City of Culture year.

One of the most ambitious proposals is to get 16,000 children aged up to five, engaged in culture as they grow up.

Mr Redmond, who was drafted in to steer Liverpool during its year as European City of Culture in 2008, said: “Liverpool doubled its visitor economy - that is what you have to keep thinking about.

“This is not just handing out money to flaky creatives - it is sound investment in the city’s economic future.”

He said there were bound to be times when there were calls for less money to be spent on culture.

He advised: “There will be pressure to ease back. Keep your nerve. Keep pushing forward.”

It comes as new posts for executive and programme director for the Culture Company, are advertised tomorrow. They are expected to be in post by the end of the year.

The company’s core purpose will be to continue to commission world-class arts programmes and work with the city’s annual festivals, but it will no longer be a funding agency.

It will also aim to produce the kind of “groundbreaking and relevant” work seen at the recent Edinburgh Festival, as well as support the new contemporary Humber Street art gallery for the next three years - after which it will have to stand on its own two feet.

It will also coordinate the 3,000 plus volunteers “one of the stand out successes of 2017”, who will be made available to sectors outside cultural events, said chief executive of Hull 2017 Martin Green. “We want them to be powerful agents for change,” he added.

Mr Green is writing to all 80 partner bodies asking them to make a contribution, financial or otherwise, beyond this year.

Mr Green said the city council was leading the way with its £250 investment plans, which include a £50m cruise terminal.

The Heritage Lottery Fund is putting £15m into plans to make a new visitor attraction of three former dry docks, close to the Museums Quarter. A new £30m music and conference centre will open next year. Mr Green, who confirmed he was standing down next year, said: “Legacy is a collective act - we can’t insist on legacy and leave someone else to do it.”

Around £1m left over from the £32m which has gone into the City of Culture year, match-funded by £1m from the council, is going into the culture company, which aims to raise another £8m by the end of the year.

The company currently employs around 100 people but will be whittled down to around 20.

Veteran Tory councillor John Fareham said he was concerned the new culture company could act like the “proverbial cuckoo” claiming credit for cultural services run by the council.

He said the lack of detail behind yesterday’s announcement “suggests we need to be a lot clearer about the ownership of this glistening future that has undoubtedly been opened by 2017.”

What’s Happening IN HULL

On Sunday all of Hull’s phone boxes will ring at the same time. Whoever picks up, could be in for an unforgettable ride.

The joint commission between Hull 2017 and Aarhus European Capital of Culture has been going on for over a year, working with youngsters to reimagine how Hull will be in 80 years.

The result is five sci-fi short films, filmed in Hull and Denmark, imagining a flooded “Aarhull” which can be seen online and at pop-up locations across the city.

People answering the call at 2pm will speak to a character from the future. And a few lucky ones will get the chance to coming face to face with them in a special electric car, along with a driver and tech person, who will filming the encounter.

Following on the heels of the BBC’s Contains Strong Language poetry festival, is Humber Mouth literature festival starting on Monday.

For four nights, starting Wednesday, there will be a special omnibus presentation of Flood, one of the theatrical highlights of the year, which takes place on a floating stage on Victoria Dock.