Thames Gateway and Urban South Hampshire to be Earmarked for Cultural Development
7 November 2007
The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) welcomes the announcement by the Government that the Thames Gateway and the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) are to be the focus for cultural development to create places where people want to live and work.
The two South East areas join Corby, the South West and East Lancashire on a list of priority places as part of the Living Places - Stronger Communities through Culture Partnership. Living Places is an agreement between two Government departments (the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)), five cultural agencies (Arts Council, England; the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA); Sport England; the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE); English Heritage) and the regional cultural consortiums.
The partnership aims to ensure that all communities, in particular those experiencing rapid economic growth, benefit from cultural facilities such as museums, libraries, arts and sport and make better use of the historic environment.
SEEDA’s Director for Culture, Communities and Consumers, Keren Jones, says: “It is fantastic that the CLG has recognised that culture has a bigger role to play in economic growth than has been acknowledged in the past. Tourism and the creative industries make a significant contribution to the economy. The cultural assets of our region and the cultural sector within it are very important in terms of our quality of life, which in turn creates a competitive advantage. We look forward to working with our partners to promote the contribution of culture in place-making.”
SEEDA has spent more than £35m on cultural projects in the South East region since 2004, including projects in Southampton (1) and Kent (2) - see notes for further details.
The Executive Director of regional cultural consortium Culture South East, Charles Freeman, says; “This is a real vote of confidence from the Government in terms of how culture can contribute to quality of life and our environment. SEEDA, Culture South East and their partners have been committed to working together behind the scenes and this announcement is a real endorsement of this collaborative way of working. We look forward to seeing the results in terms of culture ‘on the ground’ in a few years’ time.”
Winchester City Council Chief Executive Simon Eden, who chairs the PUSH Cultural Theme Group, says; “The partners in PUSH have recognized the central role culture, in all its many guises, has in shaping our place for the future. It is very encouraging for us to have the support of the Government and the cultural agencies in making our area a ‘Priority Place’. With their support, we can ensure culture sits at the heart of new, sustainable communities.”
Chair of the Cultural Partnership for Thames Gateway North Kent, Elizabeth Molineux of MLA South East, sees the Thames Gateway as a place of immense opportunity; “Our partnership believes that if regeneration is supported by the right cultural infrastructure, we can build new communities that draw a line from the past to the present and look to the future,” she says. "We can enable communities to develop with optimism and ambition. Thanks to the Living Places agreement all eyes are focused on the Thames Gateway, building on the ground-breaking collaborative work of our partnership.”
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