Harrow Council wants to make the borough “famous for arts and culture” – and wants to give the public a say in how it does this.

It presented a draft ‘cultural strategy’ at Thursday’s cabinet meeting to “promote access to and involvement in cultural and artistic activities”.

This will include celebrating the borough’s diversity, with programmes designed around various places of worship.

Cllr Keith Ferry, responsible for regeneration at Harrow Council, said: “We want to promote even more cultural activities – and we’re not just dealing with drawing or writing books.

“We’ve put a lot of work into this strategy, but we would like other people to help us make sure that Harrow becomes famous for its arts and culture.”

As well as the various churches, temples and synagogues in the borough, the council noted the importance of places such as Harrow Arts Centre, Headstone Manor and Museum, and the borough’s libraries and parks.

But, in the report put forward, it admitted that the “benefits of living in Harrow are not uniformly rich”.

It pointed out the need to tackle high levels of obesity and the prevalence of diabetes and suggested that artistic output is good for one’s mental health.

“At a time of economic uncertainty, the implementation of Harrow’s Cultural Strategy can support the growth of Harrow’s creative sector and promote our town centre and district centres as paces for entertainment, attracting footfall and spend,” it added.

Cllr Krishna Suresh, responsible for community cohesion at the council, agreed that it was important to let the public contribute on such a far-reaching issue.

He said: “We live in a very diverse borough, and culture is an important aspect of that.

“I think the wider community will appreciate what we are doing, and we look forward to hearing what they have to say.”