A ‘Peterborough bid’ launched to protect city’s cultural offering

MP Paul Bristow met with  city councillors - who have to pick up the pieces after leisure and arts provider Vivacity called it a day -  and key players at the New Theatre before meeting similar minded figures at The Cresset on Friday.

All were of the opinion that  showing what the city had to offer as a whole on a cultural level - including  three theatres, a museum,  art gallery and libraries - would  boost the chances of being looked on favourably when it becomes clear how bids for aid can be made.

David  Hutchinson, CEO of Selladoor Worldwide, the leading production company which took over the operation of the New Theatre in Broadway last year - has been very vocal in his praise for the support being offered by the Government and felt the united bid was the best way forward.

“This is the only way we can achieve  a significant support package for the city,” he said.

“It has been very clear to me from everyone I have spoken to that this package is designed to support all parts of the arts and the integrated eco-system that is the arts, and this will need some leadership at local authority level, at Parliament level at institutional level, and we all have to be talking and working together.  

“They are going to have to distribute  a hell of a lot  of money, very quickly,  and that is going to require a lot of really collaborative thinking on how we can ensure that that money is protecting the arts in the next number of months.

“We (the industry) are really on our knees at the moment.

“A Peterborough bid is  what we are essentially launching  now. Really, we are saying that this city has so much cultural capital  - from the artists up to the three theatre buildings, museums, libraries and everything else. There is a huge infrastructure here in Peterborough and we cannot let that fall apart. This is an opportunity to bring everyone together in a way that perhaps we haven’t been  working as collaboratively in the past.”

A recurring theme in the arts sector’s response to the announcement made last weekend by culture secretary Oliver Dowden is that the “devil is in the detail” - apart from the huge sum to be made available, little else has been divulged.

David continued: “Having spoken to the Arts Council,  nobody has the full knowledge  - that should be coming out by the end of the month.

“One thing I am shouting really, really loudly about in the next few weeks is  this: Regional theatre has been absolutely decimated by this.  Theatres, like the New Theatre, the Key and the Cresset  are absolute placemakers in their community and what we cannot have  in the historic London weighting on arts.  There are obviously national  jewels like the National, the RSC, The Globe. These are huge institutions,  I attend them often, but  this really has to be a fair package for the entire country.

“And that is again where we stand stronger together here in Peterborough-  to shout about  what we have here and the opportunity  we have post-covid to celebrate that. I do think that has been acknowledged  but the detail that comes from the DCMS on how they are going to distribute this,  to which organisations, and how they will work  collectively with their  stakeholders and artists and theatre organisations, is key

“We don’t have details but we know it is going to have to work very quickly though as lots of theatres have already gone into administration and  a lot of jobs have been lost.”

Given that lack of detail, and the desire for a timeline to work to and reopen, is there a cut off point after which it is too late?

Phillip Rowntree, Selladoor CFO, said:  “I think there will be different  timelines for different organisations  working towards getting back to full capacity.  But the endpoint is not yet known . We need for guidance as to when we can open again.  What the government is offering is a significant amount of money  but it is not going to last forever if it is targeted at the effects of Covid. We need to  use the lifeline that has been thrown to us to plan  a way out of that and into 2021, and how we then go about getting back to full capacity and getting the confidence of the audience again.

“There is a whole mixture of things that have to come together.  The package is hugely welcome. I do believe we will see some guidance in the near future but it is important that we  have it so that whatever money  we get is used well and not wasted. It would be very easy to waste  a significant amount of money if you don’t know how long it has to last for.”

He added: “There is audience confidence to consider - audiences need to be confident it is safe to come out to theatres. We are beginning to see that with  people going to pubs and bars  and restaurants and seeing that it is safe - or safer - to go out now.

“We rely on our audiences and we want theatres to be the safe spaces they always have been.”

City Councillor Steve Allen, who has Cabinet responsibility for culture, insisted social distancing and government funding were key to protecting what the city had to offer.

“Every £1 spent in theatre  spans out to businesses around the theatre  and we have three theatres in Peterborough  and all of those mini micro economies around there  need the money  from the people attending performances,” he said..

“But nothing will happen until there is some change in social distancing. Theatre is about  being together .You can’t go to the theatre and sit on your own.

“A lot of things are funded but others depend on people going in and spending money. Things like the museum are not that  driven  by people attending because they  are funded by the local council or government money given to the council,  which is hopefully the bonus this package is going to produce. 

“The government is going to have to pick up the baton for arts and culture  there is no doubt about it. There isn’t going to be money coming from anywhere until we get customers in a lot of these places.”

Mr Bristow, brought the plight of the city’s theatres - closed since March - to Oliver Dowden last month and believes the future is bright  for Peterborough in terms of being a centre of cultural offering.

“I wrote to the Secretary of State  about the cultural offer here is Peterborough and the New Theatre was the centre of my  thoughts as were the other cultural institutions we have,” he said. “It was  really inspired by talking to David  and  everyone here.

“For me Peterborough has made huge strides  in terms of its cultural offer  in recent years and New Theatre is a key part of that.  So to me, the idea that this place did not exist or would close  is unthinkable.

“This is a considerable package the Government has offered and that support to this industry is to prevent thing like New Theatre closing.  

“We need further guidance on that roadmap regards to  how we can get audiences back in here.  These people (Selladoor) here don’t want to be relying on government subsidies, they want to be out there  making revenue and putting on world class performances like they have  been .

“We need that roadmap and I am confident it will come.”

He added: “The future is bright. Yes, Vivacity is a challenge for the city council but I have spoken to the people there and there is no  intention to let our city, and all that progress in  in terms of being a cultural gem here in Peterborough, being let go.    

“I am still incredibly optimistic, not just about the future of the city  in terms of its economic performance but as a centre of culture.”

David Hutchinson added: “Nothing is certain but this package is significant. We asked for a lot and the government has really responded.

“I really think they genuinely care about  the importance of the arts in communities like this.

Penny Hansen, the Head of Cresset Commercial Activities,  is certainly backing the bid.

She said:  “We welcomed Paul this week to talk about the role The Cresset plays in the arts and the community, and how important it is as a community hub for the people of Bretton and the city. 

“There is a huge amount of arts and culture in Peterborough, and we’d certainly support any strategy which focussed on making that more accessible to wider audiences and encouraged the continuing development of new and exciting work, as well as making Peterborough more appealing to visiting artists, promoters and producers.

“The Cresset has been staging live events for over 40 years with the aim of providing affordable entertainment at the heart of our community and we look forward to working with Paul, the City Council and other organisations to see how we can continue to do that as part of a citywide approach.”




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