Local authorities

Valence House Museum and Gardens in Dagenham will undergo £800k improvement works after securing external investment.

The restoration is backed by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Arts Council England’s Museum Estates Development Fund, with match funding from Barking and Dagenham Council.

The project includes conservation works in the medieval moated enclosure to restore natural habitats and biodiversity, roof repair and conservation investigations into the medieval fabric of the Grade II* listed building. 

Councillor Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement said: “Barking and Dagenham is a growing destination with a diverse arts and culture offer, and we recognise the huge contribution the sector makes to our entire community.

“Our borough’s heritage gems... are much loved by the community, and despite the financial pressures we, like councils up and down the country, are facing, we’re committed to ensuring our heritage sites remain available for local people to enjoy.

“It’s really important we continue to secure external funding to invest in these important sites and ensure a wide range of arts and culture activity to meet the needs of not just the few, but the many.”

Chatteris Museum in Cambridgeshire is reopening in a former Barclays bank branch two years after moving out of its old premises, having outgrown it.

The former museum building, shared with the town council offices, closed in 2021. The BBC reports that the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority purchased its new home for £770,000.

An official opening has been planned for May, but it is open three days a week until then on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Collections Manager Andrew Spooner said: "We are really excited to have this fabulous space. It is a classic early Victorian, Georgian architectural delight built in 1840, and a Barclays bank since 1921. The bank shut in 2019, but people still refer to the building as 'Barclays'.

"We have 24 very keen volunteers, and thanks to various grants, including £97,000 from the National Lottery, we hope to keep the legacy and history of this wonderful town alive for future generations."

Hyndburn Council has backed a motion to save Oswaldtwistle's arts centre and theatre, which has been closed for six months.

Hyndburn Arts Limited managed the Lancashire venue for 13 years before the company filed for insolvency in August.

At a full council meeting, a motion was backed to recognise the building as a "vital asset". Hyndburn Council will now explore "options which will lead to the reopening of the premises".

Acting Council Leader Peter Britcliffe proposed the motion, adding: "It's so important to me that we make a very clear commitment to bringing it back into use as soon as humanly possible."

Labour Deputy Leader Noordad Aziz said they fully supported the reopening but criticised the Conservative administration, saying: “They should have brought a full report on it to the council, not just a two-line motion.

"It is not good enough."
 

Slung Low theatre company in Leeds has been granted permission to create an outdoor event space after the City Council consented to a three-year temporary change of use of its existing venue in the Temple District.

The planning application indicates shows the space will present occasional public performances, primarily in the summer months, and house a double-decker bus, which will function as a classroom and cinema.

There will also be workshop space for artists in the existing building and school and community sessions, offering placements and learning opportunities for students.

Alan Lane, Artistic Director of Slung Low, told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "We’re so pleased to hear that the temporary change of use has been confirmed on the Slung Low at Temple site. It’s a brilliantly exciting collaboration with CEG and ourselves to provide a creative space at the heart of the new Temple District.

"From this space, we are able to support so many theatre companies, independent artists, and community groups. With an outdoor stage also on site we are able to welcome audiences to visiting shows and work from our resident companies like Wrongsemble and Barrel Organ.

"It’s a part of our continuing commitment to making Holbeck an even more exciting place to live and work.”

A US company has withdrawn its proposal to build a Las Vegas-style immersive “Sphere” venue in Stratford, calling the planning process “a political football between rival parties”.

In a letter to the Planning Inspectorate withdrawing its application, Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) said it was "extremely disappointing" that Londoners would "not benefit from the Sphere's groundbreaking technology and the thousands of well-paying jobs it would have created.”

"After spending millions of pounds acquiring our site in Stratford and collaboratively engaging in a five-year planning process with numerous governmental bodies, including the local planning authority who approved our plans following careful review, we cannot continue to participate in a process that is merely a political football between rival parties."

MSG had hoped to build the LED-clad venue to host concerts, shows and sporting events on a vacant 4.7 acre site last used as a coach park during the 2012 Olympics.

In December, Housing Secretary Michael Gove instigated a review of London Mayor Sadiq Khan's rejection of planning permission for the 21,000-capacity venue.

Khan told BBC London that he “welcomed music venues in London” but rejected the proposal based on “consequences to [local] residents if this globe was to be built, the impacts on them in relation to light, the impact in relation to their amenities and on planning grounds”.

Around 4,000 people have signed a petition calling for Middlesbrough Council to keep the town's Captain Cook Birthplace Museum open.

The BBC reports that the local authority has proposed shutting the museum or handing responsibility over to another operator as part of efforts to save millions of pounds and avoid bankruptcy.

Martin Peagram, Chair of the Captain Cook Birthplace Trust, which launched the petition, said: "In 2028, it's the 300th anniversary of the birth of possibly the most famous person to come from this area. He's internationally renowned.

"We all know councils are under pressure with budgets [but] the Captain Cook Birthplace Trust regard this [proposal] as a tragedy.

"Thousands of schoolchildren have been through there over the years, learning about Captain Cook and about countries around the world.

"We know the issues the council face are real, but the museum is critical for people's perceptions of Middlesbrough and the commercial, cultural and educational opportunities it brings."

A public consultation on the budget proposals runs until 18 January.