Delivering High Quality Public Art in Cambridgeshire

23rd March 2007

All the Planning Authorities in the County participated in planning the seminar through being required to arrive at and share a list of the three most pressing issues affecting them in relationship to Public Art. From a prioritized summary of these lists the Agenda for the day was arrived at. The lists were collated and prioritized under three headlines:-

• How do we define Public Art?
• How do we secure quality (in process and outcome)
• Funding technicalities/What does S106 pay for?
  

SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS:
A number of options for ways forward became clear as the debate continued:-

Research:-

Local Authorities across the Country, as well as the County are dealing with these issues. A ‘Cambridgeshire’ position should be taken based on proven practise and policy.

A common County- wide Policy position with regard to the negotiation of Public Art Planning Obligations would assist Developers, Officers and Members in terms of improved competence, confidence, and consistency.

Training:-

There is an evident need for ‘training’ through CPD seminars, conferences and workshops that supports joint development of policy and practice between Developers, Members and Officers to

[a] make the process less adversarial and thereby quicker and easier.

[b] result in a common development and application of policy across the County.

[c] ‘raise the bar’ on the level of competence and awareness of examples of good practice County wide.

Ways Forward:-The 5 Planning Authorities could jointly commission consultancy work on selected ways forward or could agree to jointly employ a County- wide Public Art Officer.