News Archive
07/10/18
Unbreakable and strong bonds between Barnsley and Schwäbisch Gmünd.
Barnsley Youth Councillor Brandon Green Barnsley Mayor Cllr. Steve Green
with SG Mayor Richard Arnold and
Youth Councillor Dominic Jones. (Photo sv)
A delegation with Oberbürgermeister Richard Arnold was very cordially received in Barnsley. They had been invited to the “Mayor Making” ceremony, the inauguration of the new mayor Steve Green. After the visit of the old and the new mayor of Barnsley to Schwäbisch Gmünd in mid-April this was an ideal opportunity to strengthen the newly revived bonds. During the festive and emotional ceremony the importance of the friendship between the two towns was high on the agenda. Richard Arnold and the councillors from Schwäbisch Gmünd were greeted as honorary guests, all speakers stressed the unbreakable and strong bonds between Barnsley and Schwäbisch Gmünd.
Brexit or no Brexit, “We might be leaving the EU but we are not leaving Europe” became more or less the slogan for the talks with the guests from Schwäbisch Gmünd. Mayor Steve Green and Mayoress Tracey Green were pleased to share their inaugural day with their friends from Schwäbisch Gmünd and hope that the planned projects between them can be turned into reality soon.
Sir Stephen Houghton, Leader of the Council, also declared his commitment to twinning during his speech which he mainly held in nearly error-free German. He stressed that Barnsley took the twinning with Schwäbisch Gmünd very seriously and that in view of Great Britain leaving the EU the strong bonds between the two towns had to be of heartfelt concern to all people responsible.
During the two-day-trip to the English twin town Oberbürgermeister Richard Arnold, councillors Katharina Pfeifer (CDU), Gerhard Bucher (SPD), Gertraude von Streit (Greens) and Brigitte Abele (Citizens List) as well as the person responsible for town twinning, Katharina Aubele, learned a lot about the current redevelopment of Barnsley town centre. Similar to Schwäbisch Gmünd before the garden festival, Barnsley also sees the biggest redevelopment of its town centre in recent history. The towns are planning an exchange between experts in this area in order to share their knowledge and experience. Further projects discussed were a continuation of the exchanges between the Youth Councils as well as cooperation with the Barnsley Youth choir, one of the best in Europe.
