Priddy's Hard: New artist quarter will "make people's lives better" as Carpenter's Yard conversion to start

Carpenter’s Yard, based at former military installation Priddy’s Hard, is going to be converted into a creative quarter following £600,000 worth of investment from Arts Council England. Nine affordable art studios are set to be constructed to meet the growing demands for creative spaces in the town.

Chief executive Darren Henley met with MP Caroline Dinenage and chief executive of Portsmouth Historic Quarter, Hannah Prowse, on Friday and took a tour around the site. He said Gosport has a huge amount of possibilities. He told The News: “It has a heritage and a history of making things. We’re getting more and more artists here.

“It’s a wonderful place to come and visit, but also a place for people to work and grow up. Every time I come here, I see artists who are making brilliant work. There’s a real sense here with the local authority and the councillors to really make this a place people want to visit, and somewhere the people who live here can have brilliant lives.”

A total of £2.7m is being invested into projects across the south west of England. The art studios will house various creative and cultural activities. Mr Henley said the project will brig numerous benefits to the town.

“Artists and creatives can help people see beyond the everyday. In Gosport, we’re seeing more and more artists coming together in one place to make a really exciting set of possibilities. If I was a young person growing up here, I would have all sorts of possibilities I wouldn’t have had ten years ago. We invest taxpayers money into making people’s lives better.”

Grants of between £100,000 and £750,000. Ms Dinenage is pushing for different military sites, including Fort Blockhouse, to be converted into sites which can be used by residents. The Conservative MP said: “The magical thing about Gosport is our heritage and our culture is our superpower.

“Up until recently, it has not been nationally recognised that culture and heritage has a huge capacity to regenerate areas and instil a sense of confidence in the local economy. This investment is going to do wonders to regenerate this corner of Gosport and attract economic prosperity, reigniting some of our real heritage jewels in this area.”

The project is going to be split into three phases, with Portsmouth Historic Quarter contributing £500,000 towards the scheme. Ms Prowse said the construction of the landscape hub, which would allows artists to showcase their work to the public, will start at the beginning of next year.

She added: “It’s a beautiful collection of historic buildings which we are going to renovate. Sustainability is at the heart of the development. We will be installing solar panels and air source heat pumps to make sure it’s as affordable as possible for the artists.