Kensington and Chelsea Council has formally adopted its new Culture Plan for 2026-2030, aiming to foster a vibrant and inclusive cultural landscape across the borough. The plan, endorsed by the Leadership Team on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, outlines a strategic framework for supporting cultural activities, aligning them with the Council's priorities of promoting amazing spaces
and building resilient communities.
The Culture Plan was developed following extensive consultation with residents, including young people and disabled individuals, as well as the cultural and creative sector. A key objective of the plan is to unlock Section 106 funding from developers to support cultural initiatives, a mechanism that requires an adopted plan to be effectively utilised. The Council is also exploring other external funding sources to address financial challenges, including a potential Tourist Levy, grant fundraising, sponsorship, philanthropic contributions, and crowdfunding platforms.
Councillor Elizabeth Campbell, Leader of the Council, highlighted the plan's focus on partnership working, stating, While the Council has a role in delivering culture, this Culture Plan is primarily built on a partnership approach: one in which delivery is more joined up, the Council plays a supportive role, and cultural organisations and artists are empowered to do what they do best.
To empower cultural organisations and artists, the plan includes several concrete steps. A strategic Cultural Partnership will be established to bring the sector together by facilitating networking, hosting regular cultural conversations, sharing contacts and brokering relationships between cultural institutions, organisations and artists.
Furthermore, a sector peer-to-peer support network will be brokered, focusing on capacity building for grassroots and smaller providers, including shadowing and mentorship programmes. The Kensington Town Hall exhibition space will be curated to host at least two exhibitions by local artists each year, with a robust expression of interest process to ensure fairness. The Council will also explore the meanwhile use of empty shop units
for pop-up activities and exhibitions, working with Business Improvement Districts and commercial landlords. Additionally, Events Guidance
will be published to streamline the process of planning safer events in parks and public spaces, and online toolkits will be provided for community groups to self-produce events.
The plan details priorities including fostering a more cohesive cultural sector, promoting cultural activities, improving accessibility and inclusivity, expanding opportunities for children and young people, encouraging diverse cultural programming, and supporting local artists and venues. Specific actions include establishing a strategic Cultural Partnership, organising networking events, and creating a Local Cultural and Education Partnership to expand creative opportunities for young people.
Addressing accessibility and inclusivity, the plan identifies fragmented information and a lack of accessible spaces and courses as key challenges. Targeted strategies include improving promotion and communication of opportunities, with accessibility information made easier to find. The Council will create more shared, accessible spaces and courses to support participation and talent-sharing
and increase the number of accessible performance spaces. Support will be provided to cultural partners to promote their accessible offerings to residents with disabilities, connecting them with relevant community organisations. The Culture Plan itself has been drafted as a dementia-friendly document. Actions are also planned to support adults with learning disabilities into employment and training, recognise and celebrate ethnic diversity, and support residents from deprived backgrounds and care-experienced young residents into employment and skills opportunities within the cultural and creative sector. Place-based activity will focus on social housing estates to improve access to culture and employment. Road closure applications for community-based cultural events will consider accessibility impacts to ensure disabled residents and families can navigate these spaces comfortably.
Moira Ugoji, Director for Communities and Cultural Services, expressed enthusiasm for the plan's potential, noting its alignment with the Council Plan's objectives. The plan also aims to address the financial challenges faced by the Council by focusing on partnership working and leveraging external funding sources such as Section 106 contributions and social value from contracts.
The adoption of the Culture Plan is also seen as crucial for aligning with the Local Plan's Policy TR4: Streetscape, which requires major developments to contribute to arts and culture in line with the Council's Culture Plan. This ensures that developer contributions are appropriately secured and utilised.
Read the full Public reports pack here: Public reports pack 15th Jul 2026
See the Agenda frontsheet here: Agenda frontsheet 15th Jul 2026
