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I keep being asked what I think of this...
Well... finally, a bold and ambitious plan for cultural provision in Peterborough.
But, and I have quite a few buts... https://twitter.com/peterboroughtel/status/1296093216647905281
Well... finally, a bold and ambitious plan for cultural provision in Peterborough.
But, and I have quite a few buts... https://twitter.com/peterboroughtel/status/1296093216647905281
It is clearly, at long last, a strategy to use culture to bring life, footfall and investment to the city centre.
@PeterboroughCC need this, if only to generate/maintain income, such as business rates etc BUT...
@PeterboroughCC need this, if only to generate/maintain income, such as business rates etc BUT...
Arts and culture can't drive economic growth (and multiple social benefits) without equivalent capital and, crucially, revenue investment. That is a failed model, as the debacle of @VivacityPboro handing back the keys had demonstrated.
It's like trying to squeeze a lemon twice.
It's like trying to squeeze a lemon twice.
It is also insulting to the citizens of Peterborough to say that this proposal has been consulted on. I sit on the city's (very small) Strategic Partnership Group for culture. This proposal (and others) was floated past us, but that was it. There had been no chance to test it.
It is also disingenuous not to credit the Vivacity team who originally mooted this plan, but will not be around to deliver it, properly. Where in the plan is the personnel to ensure that this development had the right expertise to make this scheme work economically & socially?
And expertise is clearly needed as this is a new cultural asset which needs to be strategic - how will it relate and complement the other venues and programmed in the city? A new cultural strategy is needed to pull all of this together, which is, thankfully, in the pipeline.
I have other concerns, such as the proposal sitting amongst a big wish list, which is reliant on other £, including optimistic income from the Central Library site (when the bargain price the TKMax site suggests caution).. What's their safety net? What's the priority? What's not?
But finally, I hope is that it becomes a transformational initiative. A space to inspire and support young people. And heralds a new relationship for arts and culture, financially and socially, with many artists and arts organisations flourishing as well as the bricks & mortar.
