Support for the grass roots music industry in Plymouth is set to be confirmed as part of a refresh of Plymouth’s cultural strategy.
Results of the research carried out by Music Venue Trust for Plymouth City Council have been included within the report, which is due to be presented to the Council’s Cabinet for approval today.
Presented by Plymouth Culture the report outlines the areas in which the proposed culture strategy for Plymouth will seek to support the development of the city as a cultural destination.
Councillor Tudor Evans OBE, Leader of Plymouth City Council said: “We’ve been investing in culture in Plymouth for many years, and with this year marking the opening of The Box, the largest cultural attraction opening in the UK in 2020, it’s only right that we’re now putting in place a plan for continuing the cultural development of Plymouth.
“Supporting the music industry and making sure that it is part of this cultural strategy is extremely important in addressing the concerns raised and supporting music venues in Plymouth. Whilst it is clear that most of the work that we need to do doesn’t actually relate to music venues – supporting artists, marketing, audience development - we accept the report's conclusions that a city of our size does need new music venues and we will be proactively looking into this in the coming months.”
An action plan for supporting the local music industry is included within the report, which proposes recommendations including:
- Proactively work with grassroots music venues eligible to take advantage of the government’s recent announcement to halve business rates for venues.
- Adopting national planning guidance which gives music venues additional protection when new developments are proposed.
- Undertaking feasibility for both a new 500 capacity and 1500 capacity venues. This will include a review of existing buildings, development sites and new opportunities.
- Giving music a representative voice to liaise with Plymouth Culture through the Grass Roots Music Alliance Plymouth.
- Committed support from Plymouth City Council to support the marketing and promotion of music in the city through the Visit Plymouth website and What’s On Plymouth social media channels so that it is free of charge to promote music events.