Why we need new ways to explain, explore and engage with Culture Mile
For the past five years elected members of the City Corporation have led plans to develop its cultural and main residential district as Culture Mile. That will change with the formation of a Business Improvement District, placing businesses“in the driving seat”. We need ways to understand the changes proposed and develop collaboration proposed in the BID strategy. Plans go to the City’s Policy and Resource committee on October 20, and a ballot of businesses takes place in January 2023.
Major changes are in prospect for the North West of the City - branded Culture Mile by the City Corporation in 2018. The area is the City’s main residential district, including Barbican, Golden Lane and Barts Square estates.
The area includes the biggest public development schemes planned anywhere in the City, including demolition and rebuilding of the Museum of London
A Look and Feel strategy developed by Culture Mile proposes major street level developments.
The City’s flagship Destination City programme will bring more visitors to the area
In January 2023 businesses will vote on whether to establish a Business Investment District.(BID) and pay a levy to generate funds for investment in the area.
There are already four BIDs in the City, and generally these add another layer of innovation and funding to existing public programmes. However the Culture Mile BID is rather different. In effect businesses will be voting to take the lead on the second phase of the Culture Mile programme, starting in March 2023, because the City Corporation has cut funding.
This was flagged up in May 2022, when businesses were asked to complete a survey to help shape the BID proposals. The Culture Mile website quotes Ruth Duston OBE, MD of the consultants Primera who are developing the proposals:
“A BID for the Culture Mile will place businesses in the driving seat, enabling them to shape the City of the future, respond to local challenges and opportunities and deliver benefits for all”.
A report to the City’s Culture, Heritage and Libraries committee in July 2022 details how and why the change in leadership will take place. It cites previous decisions on funding cuts which required“that Culture Mile should move quickly to a business model which balanced City Corporation investment with external funding and(council members) were concerned that bold action was needed to ensure that City Corporation did not become the‘bank of last resort’ for the project.”
The report added:
“Achieving success in a BID ballot in spring 2023, it was argued, will unlock resources for placemaking, culture-led activation and other enhancement from outside of the City Corporation within a legally binding and sustainable framework”.
It noted changes in management:
“All staff in a cross-cutting function – central coordination, partnerships and the marketing and communications are due to come off contract by March 2023. In the lead up to this period these team members are supporting the BID campaign through the production and delivery of a series of‘demonstration projects’ and identifying how the various aspects of Culture Mile can be effectively secured alongside the BID from March 2023 onwards”.
Andrew Smith, Managing Partner at BDB Pitmans LLP and Chair of the Culture Mile Partnership, in a quote for my blog, confirmed the private sector role:
“The Culture Mile area has a huge opportunity here – one that will be secured through the business community and private sector investment but will be felt by all that call this fabulous part of the City home”.
Lack of public information about the BID
A draft BID strategy document was shared with City councillors in August, with agreement that they could distribute more widely if they wished. I published a blog post saying that I thought many of the proposals could be welcomed by residents, but there were major issues of governance and engagement. I followed up with another post about the idea of a neighbourhood forum to address this.
Primera gave councillors a full briefing on September 5, and asked for ideas on engagement. These have not been published. In August Primera had promised a website by early September, but this was not up when proposals were put to the Culture Mile Business Partnership Board on September 28. At that stage my blog posts provided the only public information about the plans, which go to the City’s Policy and Resource committee on October 20.
While there have so far been no structured opportunities for resident to engage directly with consultants, the draft BID strategy document does say:
“Collaboration sits at the heart of the BID model. Understanding the value that each member of our community can contribute to projects is vital. We want to harness the potential of all the communities that make up the Culture Mile area, unlocking new opportunities for all”.
In discussion with councillors, Kate Hart of Primera quoted the Victoria Neighbourhood Forum as a good example for residents’ engagement. The Victoria BID provides the secretariat. Kate provided me with a quote for my blog post about the possibility of a forum:
“From our point of view, if a Neighbourhood Forum was to be explored, then we could work with the community to develop a forum that reflected the make up and character of the area, bringing together businesses and residents as they have done in Victoria”.
Neighbourhood forums have to be proposed by a diverse group of at least 21 local people, and then agreed by the local council. They can follow through with development of a Neighbourhood plan, which can take a couple of years, and requires relevant planning expertise.
Why we need new ways to explain, explore and engage with Culture Mile
An opportunity for collaboration
Neighbourhood and community forums