WIREDGOV

Arts Council England has partnered with the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) to launch Creative High Streets – a brand new report that provides clear and decisive actions on how creativity can breathe new life into our high streets.

Creative High Streets builds on the findings in the Arts Council’s 2021 report A High Street Renaissance: How arts and culture bring people and pride back to our high streets - setting out the important role that creativity has to play in regenerating our high streets and helping attract local communities back to them.

A webinar launched the findings of the report, which was co-hosted by Hazel Edwards and Sarah Dance, including presentations from Hypha Studios, Medway Council and Things Made Public – who all spoke about how they have harnessed creativity to benefit their high streets, and in turn the places and communities in which they live and work.

Creative High Streets contains a wide selection of case studies that showcase successful ongoing initiatives. They present a range of creative interventions - high and low cost – to address the challenges and opportunities facing our high streets in the South East; such as the night-time economy, vacant shops, complex property and land ownership, heritage assets, and section 106 planning opportunities.

Interested in how you can harness creativity to change your high street? Download the report now.

Hazel Edwards, South East Area Director, Arts Council England, yesterday said:

“We’re excited to welcome this report, jointly commissioned by SELEP and Arts Council England. The range of ideas, the innovative practices outlined, and the scalability of the activity all underline the practical and action-based nature of the report, and we look forward to engaging further with High Streets across the South East over the months and years to come.’

Sarah Dance, Deputy Chair, Deputy Chair, South East Local Enterprise Partnership, yesterday said:

“Our ambition is for this report to be a starting point for sustained action, leading to further funding opportunities and projects, and promoting the wider strategic ambitions of SELEP as articulated in the SELEP Recovery & Renewal Strategy.”