South East

The South East living places partnership is chaired by Wendy Parry, MLA.

Contact the partnership through: wendy.parry@mla.org.uk

About the Region

The South East is England's most populated region. Urban areas include Brighton and Hove, Milton Keynes, Portsmouth, Reading and Oxford. Tourism is a major contributor to the economy in the region.

For more information about the South East see:

Government Office for the South East
The South East Development Agency
Tourism South East

 

 

Case Studies

Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust

What?

  • The Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust is a mixed use site, with a museum and working ropery
  • A number of businesses operate on site and there is also residential housing, comprising of a mixture of historic and new builds
  • The dockyard is at the heart of the regeneration and tourism offer in Medway and Kent and over the last 25 years £50 million income has been generated from various sources
  • Nos 1 and 2 basins, together with the adjoining land (the main 19th and 20th Century dockyard) were taken by English Partnerships, and subsequently the South-East England Development Agency, for mixed commercial, residential and leisure development
  • The 18th Century core of the old Royal Dockyard (80 acres) became the responsibility of an independent charitable trust

When?

  • The Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust was established by government in March 1984 and is a registered charity and fully accredited museum
  • The Dockyard celebrates its 25th anniversary this year

How?

  • The closure of HM Naval Base Chatham in 1984 left behind a 400 acre site containing the most important concentration of historic naval architecture anywhere in the world
  • This huge site was divided into 3 areas. The No 3 basin was handed over to the Medway Ports Authority and is now a successful commercial port.
  • Income generation is obtained via a range of sources including commercial rent, residential rent (via long leasehold) and other diverse forms, such as hire of site for film locations and rope sales
  • Forty seven of the buildings are scheduled as Ancient Monuments, with eleven further listed as historic buildings at Grade I and thirty three at Grade II
  • Opportunities to re-use them are therefore constrained by their historical significance and protected status, but the original strategy of restoring the buildings within their historic grading has paid off and the properties are in demand for residences, commercial use, filming and conference hire, enabling a diversity of income streams from property alone
  • £50 million capital was provided from DCMS and lottery funders. £11m of this was set aside to invest in the virtually derelict buildings, in order to then use them for income generation
  • The Dockyard is now home to over 400 residents living in more than 100 residential properties of varying nature
  • There are also 105 commercial tenants on site
  • The museum area consists of a number of galleries, three historic warships, the 3-Slip - containing large items in the collection, a collection of historic lifeboats and an interactive display
  • The quarter mile long ropery is another unique area where visitors can see rope being made and income is derived from commercial rope sales
  • The combination of these attributes have been developed over the last 25 years with the intention to ensure a sustainable income to preserve the site and provide education about its historical significance

Summary

  • There are more than 130,000 visitors annually
  • 400 people live on site in 112 homes
  • There are 100 small businesses and organisations
  • The dockyard is at the heart of the regeneration effort in Kent. When the yard closed it meant the end of 7000 jobs in the local community. In its new role the Dockyard is still a contributor to employment in the region
  • Many local people are involved in volunteer activities at the - the Dockyard could not operate as it does without them and their contribution is greatly valued 
  • Restoring the Dockyard to a high standard will ensure that the demand for use of the buildings in their various purposes will be sustained in the long term. Not being limited to one income stream, such as entrance fees, ensures that the Dockyard can maximise its income.
  • In 2008 £90 million in income was also generated from utilising the dockyard as a film location

Website

http://www.chdt.org.uk/Home

Contact

Gail James

Tel: 01634 823813

Email: gjames@chdt.org.uk

Local Area Agreement (LAA) Toolkit

What?

  • The Local Area Agreement (LAA) Toolkit is a partnership project hosted by the Southeast Cultural Observatory
  • The Toolkit is an online resource to support the work of cultural organisations and to ensure that the role of culture is factored into local area agreements (LAAs) by local government
  • The project has two target audiences:
    • Local authority policy officers developing community strategies and LAAs
    • People working in the cultural sector who want to influence LAAs and community strategies
  • Content is themed under nine subject areas, including young people, crime reduction and health
  • It uses case studies to highlight examples where culture has had an impact on local communities. These include community education at Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club and the Shepway Fun Fit Foodshow

When?

  • The project was launched in September 2007

How?

  • In 2005 cultural partners in the region ran a series of workshops to help chief cultural officers to embed culture into LAAs.  The workshops identified the need for a toolkit to provide regional guidance to inform future versions of local agreements
  • Key partners in the project are: Government Office South East (GOSE); South East England Development Agency (SEEDA); Culture South East; Southeast Cultural Observatory; Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA)  South East; Arts Council England (ACE) South East; Sport England South East; Tourism South East; Play England; Screen South;  English Heritage, South East; and local authorities

Summary

  • Since its launch, the project has received very favourable feedback and was highlighted by IDeA and the London Development Agency (LDA) as an example of good practice, in their publication A Passion for Excellence.  Local authorities within the region show a high level of awareness of the toolkit. So far, 17 out of the 19 LAAs have included cultural indicators, with the others considering adopting cultural indicators in the future
  • Feedback has indicated that a future audience could include elected members and cultural champions in each locality
  • Work will be progressed in the coming year to reflect culture’s contribution to the economic agenda and the implementation of the Regional Economic Strategy (RES) through LAAs

Website

www.the-campus.org.uk

Contact

Paul Hillman

Tel: 01934 427427

Fax: 01934 427323

Email: campus.enquiries@n-somerset.gov.uk

Website

www.culture-sport-laatoolkit.idea.gov.uk

 

Contact

Gill Perkin: Culture Senior Policy Officer

Government Office for the South East

gill.perkin@gose.gsi.gov.uk

 

Living places advice and guidance

Access practical advice and guidance in relation to living places programmes and the benefits.

Living places in action

living places has drawn together a number of case studies demonstrating successful programmes and the benefits.