Thurrock is currently under-celebrated, despite its rich heritage and contemporary culture. Thurrock is a gateway to other places and the future, and as such should pioneer the most forward-thinking programme of cultural activity.

Culture and creativity should be embedded in all regenerative projects to encourage participation with environmental, spatial, social and planning proposals. Temporary events and programmes are an important part of this process but should also operate under a long-term strategy.

Actions

• Cultural programmes in the borough to be sustainable and long-term, encouraging cross-sector working between ecology, heritage, education, the arts and architecture.
• Learn from international best practice.
• Promote a culture of curiosity about one’s surroundings.
• Planning permission to be given only to projects that reach an aspirational quality of design and sustainability.
• Celebrate local history and values.
• Encourage temporary structures and events.
• Projects should connect to national and international narratives but ensure local community interaction.
• A proportion of any Section 106 or ’Percent for Art’ monies should be ring-fenced as a central fund to ensure integrated creative involvement with all future development.

In the short term housing design will have the greatest impact on Thurrock’s future and this is the area where this new embedded, participatory concept of creativity should be demonstrated now. This should be a commissioned programme to raise the design quality of volume housing in Thurrock.

Ten sites owned by Thurrock Council should be made available for ten teams comprising an architect, artist, ecologist, house builder and the family or individual to be housed. The dwellings would be built and become the benchmark for design quality and sustainability for Thurrock.

This ground-breaking approach to housing design would launch a long-term, international programme of high-quality cultural activity, embedded in development on the ground.

Overriding principles from all three charrettes