Dudley Council

Part One: Spatial Strategy and Policies

Ended on the 22 December 2023

Cultural facilities and the visitor economy

5.30 Dudley borough is a regional visitor destination attracting millions of people each year to experience a range of cultural and leisure activities. Tourism is an important contributor to the borough's economy and Dudley's continued success as a destination for tourists will depend on the borough having a diverse mix of facilities that are attractive to a range of audiences.

5.31 Alongside this, cultural assets such as theatres, cinemas, borough halls, libraries, galleries, museum, historic sites, leisure centres and places of worship can enrich people's quality of life, whilst also providing a major source of employment. Arts, leisure, and culture can bring significant benefits to the borough and the wider sub-region, both in terms of economic impact as well as improving accessibility to culture and leisure pursuits for residents, delivering social value and supporting our health and wellbeing. The economic benefits of having a borough where residents are fit, healthy and where cultural activities are accessible and enjoyed is well documented.

5.32 It is therefore appropriate to consider how planning can assist in supporting the cultural, tourism, heritage, and the visitor economy as set out in Policy DLP5.

Policy DLP5 Cultural Facilities, Tourism, Heritage, and the Visitor Economy

Economy

Development Proposals

  1. Cultural, tourist and leisure venues and facilities within Dudley will be protected, enhanced and expanded (where appropriate) in partnership with key delivery partners and stakeholders. Such provision includes, protecting and promoting the borough's strong industrial heritage and the smaller scale venues and attractions that are an important part of creating a diverse offer.
     
  2. Proposals for new developments or uses that contribute to the attractiveness of Dudley as a visitor destination will be supported in principle, subject to national guidance and policy requirements elsewhere in the Plan.
     
  3. Proposals for new or expanded facilities or uses should:
  1. Be of a high-quality design
  2. Be highly accessible, particularly within centres
  3. Not adversely impact on residential amenity or the operations of existing businesses
  4. Be designated to be flexible, adaptable, and where possible be capable of alternative or community-based uses
  1. Well-designed and accessible ancillary facilities will be supported in appropriate locations. Additional facilities that support the visitor economy and business tourism sectors (including hotels) will be encouraged and promoted within centre locations, in line with policy DLP2.
  2. Development that would lead to the loss of an existing cultural or tourist facility in Dudley will be resisted unless:
  1. The intention is to replace it with a facility that will provide an improved cultural or tourist offer; or
  2. It can be demonstrated that there would be significant benefits to the local and wider community in removing the use and/or redeveloping the site.

The Visitor Economy

  1. Improvement and further development of visitor attractions will be supported where appropriate, to ensure that accessibility is maximised and to continue to raise the quality of the visitor experience throughout Dudley. This can be achieved by:
  1. Enhancing/extending current attractions
  2. Providing inclusive access, particularly within centres
  3. Enhancing the visitor experience
  4. Delivering necessary infrastructure
  1. Links should be made to centres and those parts of Dudley and beyond that are well-connected by public transport, considering the needs of business as well as leisure visitors, to encourage more local use of cultural and tourist attractions.
  2. Physical and promotional links to visitor attractions close to Dudley will be enhanced and encouraged, particularly in relation to the wider Black Country, Birmingham as a global city and a business economy destination and the Black Country UNESCO Global Geopark.

Cultural facilities and events

  1. The promotion and protection of other cultural attractions and events across the borough will be encouraged, including the provision of new venues, performance spaces and facilities, particularly in the centres.
     
  2. In cases where adjacent new developments would prejudice the ongoing operation of successful cultural/performance venues, the "agents of change"[4] principle will be applied. This will protect the amenities of incoming residents whilst at the same time it will preserve and protect the existing adjacent use/activity.

Justification

5.33 Dudley borough has a wide range of tourism and cultural assets including a strong industrial/historic heritage which includes Dudley Zoo and Castle, the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley Canal and Caverns, Stourbridge Glass Quarter, and an extensive canal network. Such varied attractions contribute to the borough's historic landscape and heritage value (see DLP55). In addition, Dudley, and the wider Black Country, contains one of the world's few urban geoparks, identified by UNESCO as a single, unified geographical area where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are located (Policy DLP35). Other attractions include Wren's Nest National Nature Reserve and Dudley Museum at the Archives / Black Country UNESCO Global geopark headquarters.

5.34 Visitor attractions generated approximately 9.4 m trips a year to the borough in 2022 an increase of 400,000 from 2019. The estimated spend from the visitor economy generated £402m in 2022 an increase of 27% (£86m) compared with 2019, supporting 4,380 jobs an increase of 8% compared to 3,720 jobs in 20192, including 800 jobs directly involved in the cultural sector3. The wide variety of attractions means that Dudley has a diverse offer which will continue to play an important role in the borough's overall regional and national position.

5.35 The Council's strategy sees the tourism and cultural sectors as being a key part of the local economy and this Plan should promote and support these sectors in a proactive and positive way. The borough's cultural assets and visitor facilities should be supported to grow and improve in ways that maintain their attractiveness and integrity; this will be the case particularly for those assets associated with the area's industrial heritage and historic environment. It is an objective of this Plan to enable the maintenance and improvement of facilities, including supporting appropriate opportunities for culture and tourism.

5.36 The protection, promotion and expansion of existing cultural facilities, visitor attractions and associated activities and infrastructure will ensure their role as key economic drivers stimulating and regenerating the local economy, in line with Strategic Priority 9 by supporting our network of centres as they adapt to changing demands and trends.

Figure 5.2 Dudley Borough Tourism and Visitor Attractions

This plan shows the key tourism and visitor attraction sites across the borough, with points marking heritage assets, museums and galleries, town centres churches, leisure and the Stourbridge glass quarter. It also shows the geosites, canals and the town centre inset boundaries.

Evidence

  • West Midlands Regional Tourism Strategy 2019 -2029, West Midlands Growth Company
  • West Midlands Cultural Sector Analysis, Hatch, We Made That, Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy, June 2021
  • STEAM Economic Impact Assessment Report 2019-2022: Dudley, May 2023
  • Glass Quarter Supplementary Planning Document (2009)

Delivery

  • Planning Management
  • Other Local Plan/Regeneration Frameworks
  • Promotion of tourism and cultural attractions in association with West Midlands Combined Authority and Growth Company
  • Cultural Strategy
  • Supplementary Planning Documents

Monitoring

Policy

Indicator

Target

DLP1, DLP2 and DLP3

Delivery of net new homes by location, as set out in Policies DLP1, DLP2 and DLP3

Delivery of employment land development by location, as set out in Policies DLP1, DLP2 and DLP3.

As per policies

DLP4

Design Codes adopted

Updated SPDs on Design

In line with Local Development Scheme

[4] This requires new or incoming development to mitigate and protect its incoming residents and uses against potential impacts from extant activities in adjacent properties.

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