Six towns shortlisted in search to link with twin (From Barry And District News)

Six towns shortlisted in search to link with twin

SIX French towns have been shortlisted by Barry Town Council as a possible twin for Barry.

The towns of Bayonne, St Malo, Sete, Cagnes Sur Mer, Hyeres, and Martigues were included in the short-list as they all met the necessary criteria - set out below - and were all seeking twinning links in the UK.

Proposals for a friendship pact with Kinsale, in the Republic of Ireland, were scrapped in June after 10 years of discussion.

The town council will now write to the Local Government International Bureau for more information on the six French towns in order to assess their suitability.

Once this has been done another shortlist of just two or three towns will be prepared.

The critera was that the town should:

1 Be a seaport

2 Be a tourist destination, with a similar level of tourism activity to that in Barry generally, and on Barry Island more specifically

3 Be accessible within one day and one night journey

4 Have a population of between 35,000 and 60,000 approximately (ie 12,500 less to 12,500 more than Barry, based on the 2001 census figures)

5 Have a similar industrial background to that of Barry in terms of the level of industrial activity

6 Be willing to participate in educational exchanges

7 Be willing to participate in sporting and cultural exchanges