Agenda item - Public Art - Planning Advice Note and Developer Contributions Calculator

Report of the Executive Director Economy, Environment, and Culture (Copy Attached).

RESOLVED: That the Committee –

(i)             Approved the publication of the Public Art PAN (Appendix 1) to inform the delivery of public art through the planning system, subject to any minor alterations (grammatical, non-material text and illustrative) to be agreed by the Head of Planning;

(ii)            Approved the inclusion of the Public Art Developer Contributions Calculator and associated minimum threshold (Appendix 2) as an update to the Developer Contribution Technical Guidance, subject to any minor alterations (grammatical and non-material text) to be agreed by the Head of Planning;

(iii)          Noted responses to consultation on the proposed calculator and associated minimum threshold (Appendix 3) as well as the evidenced review (Appendix 4) which informed those rates.

82.1 Liz Hobden introduced the report starting on page 175 of the Agenda.

82.2 Councillor Simson raised that public art is subjective and be quite controversial, and emphasised the need to engage with the community when making public art. She was informed that whilst there were only 7 responses, there was at least 1 response from each target group.

82.3 Councillor Osborne raised that the first thing he noticed when he came to Brighton was the public art, and how it blended seamlessly into the environment – and stressed the importance not to take it for granted and to ensure public art is given the same thought as other policies. He also mentioned that the Public Art Strategy, Planning Advice Notice, and Commissioning Toolkit all work nicely together to deliver great public art.

82.4 Councillor Littman agreed that people may take the public art for granted, and stressed the importance of actively creating public art through the new guidance.

82.5 Councillor Shanks raised that some public art isn’t accessible to everyone and is often on private buildings – public art should be able to be seen by everyone. Synthia Griffin responded that with the introduction of the CIL (Community Infrasture Levy) there is more scope to interpret the 106 agreements broadly so they don’t necessarily have to be commissioned in the site of the development.

82.6 Synthia Griffin raised that whilst there were only 7 official responses to the calculator, there was extensive public engagement through digital campfires, online polls, and dedicated sessions to galvanise views.

RESOLVED: That the Committee –

(i)             Approved the publication of the Public Art PAN (Appendix 1) to inform the delivery of public art through the planning system, subject to any minor alterations (grammatical, non-material text and illustrative) to be agreed by the Head of Planning;

(ii)            Approved the inclusion of the Public Art Developer Contributions Calculator and associated minimum threshold (Appendix 2) as an update to the Developer Contribution Technical Guidance, subject to any minor alterations (grammatical and non-material text) to be agreed by the Head of Planning;

(iii)          Noted responses to consultation on the proposed calculator and associated minimum threshold (Appendix 3) as well as the evidenced review (Appendix 4) which informed those rates.