Agenda item

A report by the Assistant Director – Leisure and Culture.

The Portfolio Holder Councillor Sarah Sharpe presented the report supported by the Assistant Director for Culture and Leisure and the Interim Cultural Services Manager.

Members were advised that A Street Art Policy had been developed by South Holland District Council after they received a local petition requesting a street art wall from local residents and artists in 2021.

A Task Group was formed from the Policy Development Panel (PDP) to develop the governance framework to support the opportunity for street art in South Holland. A policy was drafted following detailed work by the Task Group and tested with a Pilot project in 2023.  It was the intention to work towards adoption of the Policy across the South & East Lincolnshire Council Partnership (S&ELCP) sub-region

The aim of the policy had been to deliver best practice in managing graffiti across the borough while providing space for street art.  For the purposes of this policy street art is defined as: “Any work of art on building facades or infrastructure with permission that complements the public space in which it is situated. Such work will not detract, defame or depreciate the area. It could be a painting, land art, sculpture etc.” Whilst graffiti was defined as “Defacement of building facades or infrastructure without permission by use of paint or another form of marker. This is always a form of criminal damage.”

In South Holland the Street Art Policy had been in place for one year and had been well tested. During the Pilot phase one artist chose to go against the approved artwork for one of the two pieces of art and created a different piece about the cost-of-living crisis. That was a clear breach in the terms of the policy and because of the policy guidelines, that piece of artwork was defined as graffiti and removed.

The proposed policy would be piloted in Boston through a project working with partners, including schools and colleges to test the following steps in the policy:

Step 1 – Application for Street Art proposal to Boston Borough Council

Step 2 –Consultation with local community, ward members and the Parish Council or BTAC

Step 3 –Approval or rejection

Step 4 –Street Art work to be carried out with approval

A potential number of sites had been identified through the Public Realm Group, however for an initial project Central Park had been chosen as the pilot opportunity to test the policy in support of the ongoing work to achieve Green Flag status.

The pilot process for the policy would be planned to seek funding and establish partners (Transported Arts);  create artist commission and share widely; pilot location and art ideas presented to relevant Portfolio Holders and Ward Councillors for approval;  successful artist commissioned and artwork produced and  the results of pilot to be presented to Cabinet.
The proposed policy had been developed and tested in South Holland resulting in examples of where it had enabled the successful delivery of street art in the community. It had also enabled the council to remove street art where it did not meet the guidelines laid out in the policy.  The policy also enabled the potential for using street art to engage with young people and provide the opportunity to work with artists to develop their creativity in dedicated spaces rather than going down the route of illegal graffiti.

Committee deliberation and questioning followed which included:

On seeking reassurance that the specification in respect of the policy would be made very clear to residents from the outset, of what was acceptable and what was not acceptable, a member was advised that it would be made very clear publicly through communications and the Pilot would provide a full test of the policy to highlight any concerns ahead of it being publicised.  Concern was noted at the likelihood of the installations attracting graffiti with issues of de-facing the works or encouraging unauthorised graffiti in the vicinity of display site.

Responding to further questions the Portfolio Holder confirmed that funding was being sourced to address maintenance requirements which was hoped to be delivered through the NPO project over 3 years and there would be public recognition that the street art productions were approved by the Council with supporting publicity for each instalment.   

Clarification was further provided, in that there would be varying sizes of art installations depending on the commission.  The ones identified for Central Park would all be one size on boards to be placed in-front of the existing fence.  Other commissions direct onto the side of buildings would have a timeline to be painted over and would be larger and, dependant on the commission, could possibly be permanent features. 

When referencing the specification in respect of the materials to be used by the artists, a member questioned if any manufacturer approved supplier list would be provided and the Portfolio Holder confirmed that advice would be sought from professional artists to ensure resilient and eco-friendly products were sourced. 

Responding to several concerns raised by a member in respect of the removal of graffiti and the cost of the removal to the Council, clarifying the position the Lead Officer for the committee the Assistant Director for Regulatory, confirmed that graffiti was an environmental crime and whilst it could be a challenge to identify the culprit, when it was possible the environmental crime officers would issue a fixed penalty notice. 

The Assistant Director for Culture and Leisure further advised committee that the BTAC Operatives who worked within the town centre, were very active in both spotting and removing incidents of graffiti and were supported in spotting incidents by the new ASB Officers who patrolled the area and the prevalent CCTV coverage now in place.  Members were also advised that overall art works which had been installed around the town had been appreciated by residents and whilst a small amount of vandalism would arise, it was dealt with efficiently.