Says the Trust, "We are pleased that the Culture White Paper recognises the absolute importance of the arts and culture in people's lives - in education and the economy; within local communities and internationally. Whilst the ambition of the White Paper shares much with Jennie Lee's paper of 50 years ago, in our own 40th Anniversary year we agree that the economic challenges faced today are very different.
"So we welcome initiatives to promote the role of culture in place making through the new Great Place scheme; improve access to the arts through the new Cultural Citizens programme; and support the development of the historic built environment through the establishment of new Heritage Action Zones.
"We look forward to playing a full and active role in these initiatives by protecting the buildings and cultural assets which will widen access and provide new opportunities to experience live theatre.
"The White Paper rightly highlights the potential risk of new development on existing theatres and heritage, and we are delighted that it recognises the role of the Theatres Trust and the work we do with local authorities and communities."
As a statutory consultee in the planning system the Theatres Trust advises local authorities on all planning applications for theatre buildings, and provides expert planning, design and conservation advice.
"In the spirit of the White Paper we are also pleased that our statutory planning role in Wales was recently extended to include planning applications for buildings on land adjacent to theatres and new theatres.
"We wholeheartedly support the White Paper's commitment to developing cultural partnerships and cultural strategies and will build on the work we do promoting the inclusion of cultural policies in Local Plans, advocating for improvements in the planning system and advising local authorities."
The Trust statement concludes, "In our own commitment to protecting theatres for everyone, we look forward to working further with the DCMS, Arts Council England, Historic England, Lottery distributors, local authorities, local communities and many new funding partners to ensure everyone can enjoy the opportunities culture and live theatre offers."
(Jim Evans)
