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Press Release

National Arts Bodies Condemn Absence of Arts and Culture in Draft National Policy Planning Framework

5 October 2011

VAGA has joined fellow national arts bodies in calling for inclusion of arts and culture in National Planning Policy Framework. The following letter was published in the Sunday Telegraph on the 2nd October:

SIR –Greg Clark, the planning minister, in his introduction to the draft National Planning Policy Framework, says that planning is a creative exercise to improve the places in which we live. This statement is welcome, but the NPPF fails to promote and protect facilities, spaces and initiatives which enable culture and the arts to take place.

As senior representatives of national arts bodies, with networks and members whose activities and audiences are directly affected by the planning system, we are concerned about the omission of policies that would explicitly promote and protect cultural activities.

Our theatres, concert halls, art galleries, museums, libraries, public art initiatives, craft venues and artists’ studios matter. They help promote economic growth, enhance the built environment and develop sustainable communities. They are also hubs around which our world-leading creative industries have sprung up and flourished.

But the NPPF is currently silent on culture and, as a result, we are at risk of losing important cultural facilities and activities that can and do make a significant contribution to our civic pride, wellbeing and quality of life. We need a planning framework that promotes culture, not one that ignores it.

Rob Dickins, Chairman, The Theatres Trust
Mhora Samuel Director, The Theatres Trust
Jonathan Bank, Chief Executive, ixia
Duncan Smith, Chairman, National Federation of Artists’ Studio Providers
Lorna Brown, Chairman, Arts Development UK
Helen Pike, Assistant Director, National Federation of Artists’ Studio Providers
Robin Simpson, Chief Executive, Voluntary Arts Hilary Gresty, Director, Visual Arts and Galleries Association
Kate Adie, Chairman, National Campaign for the Arts
Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director, Crafts Council
Eddie Redfern, Chairman, Little Theatre Guild
Caroline Miller, Director, Dance UK
Charlotte Jones, Chief Executive Officer, Independent Theatre Council
Sheila McGregor, Chief Executive, Axis Paul Hobson, Director, Contemporary Art Society
Julian Bird, Chief Executive of the Society of London Theatre & Theatrical Management Association
David Brownlee, Chief Executive, Audiences UK
Gillian Nicol, Head of Programmes, a-n
Mark Pemberton, Director, Association of British Orchestras
Mark Taylor, Director, Museums Association



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Visual Arts and Galleries Association

Visual Arts and Galleries Association

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