Issue - meetings

Public Art Guidance as Material Consideration

Meeting: 13/11/2017 - Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transportation Committee (Item 90)

90 Public Art as a Planning Policy Guidance pdf icon PDF 77 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Local Economy Project Officer presented this report and it was highlighted to the Committee that:

 

·  The document had been developed to be used by Planning Officers and developers alike and included case studies to highlight the different forms that art could take.

 

·  The Public Art Guidance encouraged public art to be included at an early stage in a developer’s design and development process, in order that public art was incorporated into the scheme and not added on afterwards.

 

·  The guidance referenced national and local planning policies and guidance and emphasised the importance of public art. This was particularly important in new developments where art could be used to create a sense of place, in order to develop strong and vibrant communities.

 

·  The Maidstone Borough Local Plan supported the incorporation of public art.

 

·  The guidance provided indicators against which the delivery of public art could be measured and monitored. This would provide supporting evidence for public art to be considered more fully when the Maidstone Borough Local Plan was next reviewed.

 

In response to a question from the Committee, officers advised that:

 

·  The applicant would be recommended to involve ward members, the local community and parish councils at the pre-application stage when they were considering incorporating public art.

 

·  A group of developers had volunteered to be part of developing the guidance and were keen to be engaged in the process. The Officer stated that he had confidence that developers would be able to absorb the cost of public art.

 

RESOLVED: That the Public Art Planning Guidance attached as Appendix I, be approved so that it may be used as a material consideration for planning purposes for planning applications validated from 1st January 2018 onwards.

 

Voting: Unanimous