Croydon Council is committed to increasing the cultural offer by creating a borough-wide programme of events according to chief executive Jo Negrini.
Paul Hudson, development and partnerships executive of the borough-based London Mozart Players, one of the biggest chamber orchestras, asked whether talk of investment in the arts would be formalised through a cultural fund in the borough.
In a question-and-answer session at the Develop Croydon Conference, Ms Negrini replied: “Is there a fund that we’re using now that is accessible for other people to use? No.
“But what we’re looking at in terms of any new planning applications coming through or any other ways that we can lever in additional investment.
“We’ve invested in a dedicated team of people to look at not only Fairfield Halls but try to increase the cultural offer in the district centres and provide the kind of in-kind support and series of events to try to build the momentum about that. We’re having a lot of fun at the moment around that.
“But the importance of Mozart Players and a lot of the local projects working together – especially around the reopened Fairfield Halls – is going to be a really important part of that.
“So there is no fund at the moment but trying to get as many groups and cultural organisations that are here to work with us on how we actually use culture as a way of driving the economy, particularly in the district centres.