Policy 4.6

4.32 London’s cultural and creative sectors are central to the city’s economic and social success^[1]. The Mayor’s Cultural Metropolis^[2] seeks to maintain the capital’s status as one of greatest world cities for culture and creativity, and addresses the need to increase the provision of arts and culture facilities in outer London, providing targeted support for the creative industries. Supplementary guidance^[3] provides further guidance on identification of areas where there are deficiencies in arts and cultural facilities.

4.33 London’s internationally renowned historic environment, natural landscape and cultural institutions, including museums, galleries and theatres, are a defining part of the capital’s heritage as well as major visitor attractions. Strategic cultural areas (Map 4.2 and Policy 4.5Af) identify, protect and seek to enhance significant clusters of these institutions and their settings including Theatreland in the West End, the South Bank/ Bankside/London Bridge, the Barbican, Wembley, Greenwich Riverside, the South Kensington museums complex/Royal Albert Hall, ‘London’s Arcadia’^[4] covering strategic heritage sites in West London, and the Olympic Park/Lee Valley Regional Park. Other arts, cultural and heritage facilities of more than local importance, for example associated with the Angel Islington and Fairfield Halls, should be identified in LDFs. The Mayor will work with Visit London and others in developing the concept to cover other strategic clusters of visitor attractions taking account of the recommendations of the Outer London Commission (see paragraph 2.35).

4.34 Culture also plays a valuable role in place shaping, especially by engaging younger people in wider community activity. It is therefore important to expand London’s cultural offer beyond central London and especially to town centres and the opportunities of the Olympic Park and Thames Gateway, as well as maintaining and enhancing the quality of facilities in and around CAZ.

4.35 Boroughs should work with a range of partners to designate and develop cultural quarters in LDFs and through development briefs, drawing on priorities outlined in the Mayor’s Cultural Strategy. These quarters can help meet the need for affordable workspace for creative industries, including flexible live/work space; encourage clusters of activity and provide a catalyst for local regeneration. Taking account of strategic priorities for planning obligations (Policy 8.2), boroughs are encouraged to ensure cultural objectives are addressed in major development proposals.

4.36 London is a great city for night time entertainment and socialising, with a unique selection of bars, restaurants, performing arts venues, cinemas and night clubs. The night time economy also forms an important part of London’s economy[5]. The Mayor encourages a supportive approach to planning these diverse night time activities in appropriate locations. LDFs should recognise and address the opportunities and challenges posed by the strategically important clusters of night time activities concentrated in some of the main town centres and parts of CAZ and its fringe (see Map 4.3 and Annex 2). The strategic cluster in Covent Garden/Soho makes a particular contribution to London’s world city offer as well as meeting Londoners’ needs.

Map 4.3 Night time economy clusters of strategic importance

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4.37 Boroughs should take an evidence-based approach to managing the night time economy through an integrated range of measures including planning, licensing, policing, transport and street cleaning[6]. This will require the co-ordination and co-operation of local authorities and their partners, as well as residents, businesses and their customers. Integration of planning and licensing policies, while avoiding duplication, is essential to manage unacceptable cumulative impacts and saturation of night time economy activities in an area. When addressing saturation, licensing-based policies can be used to form part of an integrated package of measures, and should be reviewed regularly^[7]. When managing cumulative impact, boroughs are encouraged to include policies in LDFs to influence the scale and nature of night time economy development, regarding the use class, time of operation, size of premises and proportions of retail frontages in different night time economy areas.

4.38 Local circumstances will determine whether night time economy activities should be encouraged to develop in a specific zone, or be spread more widely. In large centres the development of a night time economy ‘quarter’ or zone may be more appropriate for management purposes and enable an appropriate mix of uses to be encouraged^[8].

4.39 Boroughs should encourage a diverse range of night time activities, expanding culture and leisure venues other than eating and drinking. This diversification can enable a mix of activities in the public realm and help keep public spaces safe. It can also attract a wider range of visitors to town centres at night, including those who feel excluded from alcohol-driven entertainment activities. This is particularly important to outer London, where there is a deficiency in access to other leisure facilities such as cinemas.

^[1] GLA Economics. London’s Creative Sector: 2007 Update. GLA, 2007

^[2] Mayor of London. Cultural Metropolis: the Mayor’s Priorities for Culture 2009-2012. GLA, 2010

^[3] Mayor of London. Town Centres SPG, 2014 op cit

^[4] London’s Arcadia refers to the parks, gardens, historic buildings and landscape scenes covering the stretch of the Thames running from Teddington beneath Richmond Bridge to Kew.

^[5] GLA Economics. Spending Time: London’s Leisure Economy. GLA, 2003

^[6] Boroughs should manage the evening and night-time economy in centres, taking account of and complementing the local authority’s Statement of Licensing Policy and the promotion of the licensing objectives under the licensing Act 2003.

^[7] Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Revised Guidance Issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003. DCMS, 2007 (paragraph 13.31)

^[8] Mayor of London. Town Centres SPG, 2014 op cit