Ealing has a unique cultural profile, both as an important provider of cultural infrastructure in a cluster of West London boroughs and in London as a whole. There are clear gaps and opportunities to intervene to support the ecosystem, along with strengths to build on.
Evidence supports a clear case for intervening to provide and enhance existing spaces for cultural consumption in Ealing.
Ealing’s provision of spaces for culture falls behind its West London counterparts (Brent, Harrow, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow, and Hillingdon) and behind the rest of London in terms of the quantity of cultural infrastructure consumption space available.
While these benchmarks should be read with caution, as necessary infrastructure provision depends on a range of highly localised factors, Ealing under-provides spaces for cultural consumption across the board, meaning audiences are traveling elsewhere for culture consumption, which reduces local access to cultural opportunities and local benefit.
Engagement with local cultural changemakers provided consensus that cultural activities should be available to all residents across Ealing. However, for a wide range of people to participate in cultural activity, there needs to be more locally accessible opportunities. Many cultural consumption spaces are located in the main town centres of Acton and Ealing, and there is a notable lack of provision of cultural infrastructure in other areas of the borough including Northolt and Southall.
It is important to protect existing spaces for cultural use, support their promotion, improvement, diversified use and ongoing growth, alongside plans to establish new facilities across the borough. Ealing's high provision of libraries (13 compared with a London average of 10), and the council's commitment to embedding a 20-minute neighbourhood approach in the seven towns both bolster the argument for improving access to cultural programming by diversifying the use of existing council venues for local communities.
A diverse screen exhibition offer is vital for nurturing local screen talent pools because it builds a ‘film culture’, providing access to international stories, inspiring creative practice and encouraging a new generation of storytelling. Screen exhibition is also an enriching part of the wider cultural landscape and visitor and leisure economy, supporting the diversification of town centres and stimulating spend across a range of sectors. The screen industry is increasingly pervasive, offering possibilities for embedding digital art and story-telling in the urban fabric through public exhibition and placemaking initiatives.
Given the population size in Ealing, there is a gap in film exhibition space across all models. Engagement with film sector stakeholders reveals that the sector is in a period of transition post-Covid and is dependent on major blockbusters to generate a sustainable business model for cinema exhibition. At the same time, independently operated venues are likely to provide the best employment and training opportunities for young people, and are easiest to link with the film production ecosystem. Ealing's existing independent cinemas, including Act One in Acton