Agenda item

To note the report of the Clerk.

The The Committee noted the report of the Clerk.

On action 2 (cultural calendar) the meeting noted that the current website has no calendar feature at this time, and that monthly events and activities are circulated every month. The meeting also noted that the Corporation’s entire social media presence (for cultural purposes) is currently being reviewed as per the recommendations of the review undertaken by Paul Martin and that all events to May 2025 are shown on the ‘What’s On’ section of the Corporation’s website, with some events taking place later in the year also available on the websites of the City of London (cityofldn, and cityoflondon).

On point 16 (CHL involvement in cultural planning), the meeting noted the following:

-          Mechanisms are available to facilitate CHL formal representation at City of London Corporation (CoLC) planning committees (primarily Planning & Transportation, and Planning Applications Sub-Committee);

-          At present 6-8 CHL Members sit on each of those Committees so there is currently sufficient exposure to Planning matters for CHL Members during meetings unless no CHL Members attend those meetings, noting that such membership does not constitute formal CHL representation;

-          It is noted that by the time a planning application reaches the Committee stage it is invariably too late to meaningfully influence the cultural element of a planning application, so the input would need to be upstream of the Committee stage;

-          The Planning structure at CoLC, and at other Local Authority organisations, is expecting to undergo significant shake-ups with the introduction of the Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill expected in March 2025. It is likely that there will be significant changes to the pre-Committee process of presenting planning applications before that time at the CoLC; and

-          CoLC planning staff can be contacted to discuss decisions on cultural input for planning purposes at the point at which the application is shaped.

The meeting noted that discussions have already taken place with CoLC planning departments on having an input at an early stage, noting also that CHL Members have an input into cultural matters at planning committees.  Members commented that there appears to be little engagement with residents on the creation of cultural or sporting spaces as part of development and planning applications.