cultural plan for creativity

A new plan has been published setting out the council’s ambitions to transform the borough, building on its impressive cultural heritage and investing in spaces for creativity.

Ealing Council’s cultural infrastructure plan follows on from the cultural manifesto which was published last year.

The new plan is a form of “roadmap” that sets out proposals for building and growing the district’s cultural sector; creating new training and career opportunities; and invest in and support a thriving creative community.

Council leader Peter Mason said: “Our cultural infrastructure plan builds on what already exists in our 7 cities for culture and the arts – from our film heritage and the return of cinemas to Ealing, to Pitzhanger Manor, the Creative Enterprise Zone in Park Royal and beyond.

“It also highlights how we can support the creation of more places for the arts to thrive in places like Southall, where cultural life is vibrant but without spaces to showcase it – and how we can work to ensure that residents of neighborhood can access, enjoy or build careers in the creative and cultural sectors.”

According to government figures, in 2022 the UK’s creative industries generated £108 billion and employed 2.3 million people.

What does the plan include?

The infrastructure plan was developed after a series of workshops with the district’s creative specialists and organizers, artists and talents from the world of film and music.

It establishes a set of strategic objectives:

• to create a network of locations and cultural facilities in the 7 cities, accessible to local residents
• encouraging bottom-up, grassroots cultural activities
• adaptation of empty or underutilized spaces and industrial buildings for cultural uses
• use the existing and developing transport network to connect the borough with the rest of west London and beyond
• embrace digital transformation to reduce access barriers and build a more inclusive and innovative cultural sector

Councilor Polly Knewstub, the council’s cabinet member for thriving communities, said: “This cultural infrastructure plan is a tool to set out what we need to do to strengthen and grow our cultural facilities and organizations and helps us meet all our three key missions: creating good jobs, tackling the climate crisis and tackling inequality.”

The plan reviews the existing spaces, buildings and facilities of the neighborhood for cultural activities. It identifies new opportunities to support more ‘production’ space for making creative and cultural work and ‘consumption’ space for presenting work or organizing events. These can range from rehearsal spaces to prop studios, theaters to galleries and record stores.

More information