PLANS to develop a 15 year vision for cultural activities in the region have been announced.

The North-East Culture Partnership set out a strategy to be implemented between next year and 2030 at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead today. (Thursday, July 17)

The aim will now be to develop a ‘case for culture’ by Easter, focusing on how to get more people in the region to engage with culture by highlighting economic benefits as well as how ‘the arts’ can contribute to health and wellbeing.

The process will begin by consulting with cultural groups, local authorities, business, universities, festival organisers and funders across the region

John Mowbray, co-chair, NECP, said: “The distinctiveness of the North-East is now partly characterised by the quality of many cultural assets, both natural and built. In the debate about rebalancing cultural investment from London to the north of the UK there is still a job to be done, which is why it is one of the areas we hope our vision will address.

“We want to deliver a bold, simple idea that all sorts of people, organisations and artists can get behind.”

Last year, the three month Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition in Durham attracted nearly 100,000 visitors from as far as Canada, New Zealand and Asia.

It is hoped the plan will include events on similar scale over the next 15 years.

The partnership hopes to build on the cultural renaissance the region has enjoyed with arrival of successes including the Angel of the North, The Sage Gateshead, Baltic, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art and the National Glass Centre at Sunderland.

Middlesbrough Councillor David Budd, NECP co-chairman, said: “There have been influential plans for culture over the last 20 years, and in considering the case for culture with our working group there was a sense that we were only half way along the journey, although there are strong foundations to build on."