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The extent to which the arts and cultural development have woven themselves into regeneration is truly remarkable, and should perhaps be recognised as one of the sector’s triumphs of recent years. Projects such as the Thurrock Production Park (p1) are tangible proof of it; proposals such as the ‘opera house instead of a super casino’ in Manchester (p3) are ideological proof of it. The Ebbsfleet project (see this week’s APe-mail) is a third example, combining the power to shock of giant-scale art with the involvement of local people to give a new and unprecedented profile to a little-known area.

The notion that the arts sector is now one of the first providers to which regeneration planners should turn has well and truly taken hold. Perhaps more interestingly, it is the skills base of the supporting systems of arts practice that is getting the biggest boost. Attenders at a Learning Summit in the East of England recently heard from Tom Bewick, Chief Executive of Creative & Cultural Skills, that there was no shortage of young people wanting to do the ‘glamorous’ bits – performing, writing, filming – but that the new Skills Academy would give opportunities to those working backstage – lighting, building, sound and so on. It would also seem, digging a little below the surface, that the Manchester idea, if it happens, may feed off the Thurrock plan, leading to a more complex, interesting and fruitful project than simply creating a sort of Covent-Garden-upon-Beswick. Tony Hall, who as the Royal Opera House’s Chief Executive is the link between the two projects, has picked up on the regenerational Zeitgeist, and has the clout to put some potentially high-impact projects on the table. (There’s also a hint that Tate’s success in establishing a nationwide presence in England is being emulated.) Community arts organisations which have been slaving away at creating small-scale projects with local people – new designs for railings or lighting, new activities for disaffected youth, arts-led community consultation – might politely gnash their teeth at what could be seen as a usurpation of their field. They’ve been inventing this practice, with every step a challenge, every penny earned the hard way, for years. They need now to step up and apply for the jobs that should be created, now that recognition for arts-led regeneration is finally breaking through.

Catherine Rose, Editor