Agenda item

The following petition was considered at the meeting of the District Council on 24 November 2021:

Title: Legal Street Art Wall

Statement: We the undersigned petition the Council to help us

organise/find a designated area/wall/walls to become a legal spot in

Spalding for street artists/artists to be able to paint there.

Justification: Many from around the area have commented on social

media, after seeing some local work and talent, that it would be a nice

attraction for the town to have a legal street art wall – somewhere people

can go to paint. Peterborough has one and it has been a huge

attraction for the city, with people coming from all over the country to

visit the artwork. Having something like this in Spalding will attract many

big named street artists to come and paint here, and also be an

attraction for the town , bringing more business/customers to the rest of

the town whilst they visit. Schools can also use an area/wall to do art

projects, and the local community could put on workshops, to teach the

younger generation about the street art culture, to respect the artwork

and to teach them how to do it.

The Council agreed the following:

That a special meeting of the Policy Development Panel be organised to consider membership of a sub-committee in order to look at the potential creation of a street art wall, and issues to be addressed.  Potential issues raised for consideration included:

• governance around the operation of the street art wall;
• how the space could be managed, to include: who could contribute to the artwork on the wall; content of the artwork; who would be responsible for maintaining the wall should it be defaced, and to keep it in a good state; and
• potential locations.

The Policy Development Panel is requested to agree the way forward.

The following petition was considered at the meeting of the District Council on 24 November 2021:

Title: Legal Street Art Wall

Statement: We the undersigned petition the Council to help us

organise/find a designated area/wall/walls to become a legal spot in

Spalding for street artists/artists to be able to paint there.

Justification: Many from around the area have commented on social

media, after seeing some local work and talent, that it would be a nice

attraction for the town to have a legal street art wall – somewhere people

can go to paint. Peterborough has one and it has been a huge

attraction for the city, with people coming from all over the country to

visit the artwork. Having something like this in Spalding will attract many

big named street artists to come and paint here, and also be an

attraction for the town , bringing more business/customers to the rest of

the town whilst they visit. Schools can also use an area/wall to do art

projects, and the local community could put on workshops, to teach the

younger generation about the street art culture, to respect the artwork

and to teach them how to do it.

The Council agreed the following:

That a special meeting of the Policy Development Panel be organised to consider membership of a sub-committee in order to look at the potential creation of a street art wall, and issues to be addressed. Potential issues raised for consideration included:

·         governance around the operation of the street art wall;

·         how the space could be managed, to include: who could contribute to the artwork on the wall; content of the artwork; who would be responsible for maintaining the wall should it be defaced, and to keep it in a good state; and

·         potential locations.

The Policy Development Panel was requested to agree the way forward.

The Chairman introduced the item and stated that the aim of the meeting was to set up a Task Group with up to five members, and to provide a steer to the Task Group.

The Interim Deputy Chief Executive (Communities) was in attendance, and raised the following points:

• It was important to understand the difference between street art and graffiti – the basic difference was whether or not permission had been granted by the owner of a building/wall etc;
• The Council currently did not have a street art policy in place and it was suggested that the Task Group should consider developing such a policy which would cover street art;
• There were three priorities within the Council’s Corporate Plan which would link to a well-defined street art policy – 1) Enhancement of wellbeing for the residents of South Holland; 2) Establishment of pride in South Holland where public spaces were cleaner, greener and safer; and 3) Wanting to visit/live/work in the area while supporting our villages in the district and meeting the needs of the communities;
• There were a number of street art policies that existed in the UK and internationally, and these created a vibrant street art culture   By developing its own policy, South Holland could set the framework for how it wished to develop its own street art and what it wished to discourage.  It could also consider the type of content to be encouraged and avoid content that could cause offence;
• The Task Group could consider the creation of an evaluation panel where street art could come forward for approval.
• It would be important to ensure a mechanism where the creator of the street art was responsible for its maintenance and upkeep;
• The Task Group should identify an area where the street art could be undertaken;
• If a policy could be developed in South Holland, this could potentially be rolled out across the other authorities within the S&ELCP partnership.

Panel members also raised the following points:

• The initial location would be in Spalding but if successful, could be rolled out to other towns and villages in the district if required;
• It was important for the Task Group to assist in developing a strong policy, which ensured that any controversial content was not included on street art walls.
• The Chairman confirmed that the draft policy would be presented to the Policy Development Panel before progressing, and that members would therefore have an opportunity to consider it before its adoption.

The Interim Deputy Chief Executive (Communities) stated that in order to assist the Task Group in its work, officers could start to formulate a draft policy for consideration by the Task Group as soon as it met.  Members felt that providing a skeleton policy would be useful, and members could then add to this.  It was also requested that the Task Group be provided with links to other policies/examples of street art. 

AGREED:

a)    That a Street Art Wall Task Group be set up to consider addressing the issues raised by members in the debate, and the suggestions made by the Interim Deputy Chief Executive (Communities), and that this result in the creation of a draft street art policy;

b)    That a skeleton policy be drafted by officers for the Task Group to start populating at its first meeting, and that Task Group members also be provided with links to other policies/examples of street art;

c)    That membership of the Task Group comprise of Councillor P Redgate, Councillor J McLean, Councillor H Bingham, Councillor R Gibson and Councillor G Rudkin; and

d)    That officers identify a lead officer and viable dates so that work on the Task Group could commence at the earliest opportunity in the new year.