Policy information sourced from the Havering Local Plan
15 Culture and creativity
The Council is committed to sustaining and enhancing Havering’s cultural offer and creating inclusive and diverse communities by:
- Safeguarding the borough’s existing diverse range of creative arts, cultural and performance spaces, professional sporting and entertainment facilities and their related facilities, and refusing to grant planning permission to development proposals that will result in their loss unless replacement facilities of equivalent or greater quality and quantity are provided on site or within the vicinity which meets the needs of the local community or particular groups, or it has been demonstrated that there is no demand for another similar use on site;
- Supporting development which enhances and diversifies the cultural offer within the borough’s metropolitan centre of Romford, and the six district centres of Hornchurch, Collier Row, Harold Hill, Upminster, Elm Park and Rainham to contribute more effectively to their regeneration and town centre renewal;
- Permitting temporary use of vacant commercial buildings, and cleared sites for performance and creative work where they contribute positively to the regeneration, vitality and character of the area;
- Encouraging a diverse range of evening and night time activities including expanding opening hours of existing daytime facilities such as shops, cafés, medical facilities, libraries and theatres to integrate leisure and other uses to promote and sustain customer cross over;
- Ensuring that development proposals are designed to be inclusive;
- Working proactively with operators, landowners, stakeholders to maximise the positive impacts and mitigate the negative impacts of art, cultural and leisure activities; and
- Supporting planned improvement to existing arts, cultural and performance spaces, including creative work and related facilities.
For more information please see the Havering Local Plan