Kate Hulett

I mean a really over-represented number of musicians stemming from this place and artists, you know, and we've got a Biennale, we've got a Design Week.

You know, it's all kind of we've got all the headquarters of architects.

Absolutely.

It's just feels great to be here, you know, and I think having that historic, the buildings and the warehouses almost allows that more than you don't get that so much as in new build, you know, that vibe.

And we still certainly battle with that.

And that's something that we've been talking a lot about.

It's really hard to have the live work models anymore.

You know, you've got a shop or a studio downstairs and you can live upstairs.

That's almost designed out of our towns, which actually would completely transform them for the good.

But we've definitely had a progressive kind of bent whereby we got political will that can help shape some things.

You know, for example, when I opened my shop, it was in an empty old mired apartment store, four stories, and we were able to fill the ground floor with small businesses and makers on the first and second level, had a bar on the roof, the biggest artist-run gallery in the basement.

And that was because the mayor at the time enabled it, facilitated it, threw a bit of money at it.

And then this was an incredible space for new businesses and new creatives to start and try and experiment.

In that space, we were there for three years, so it was in kind of pre-development.

So, you know, obviously the developers were sympathetic as well and they allowed it and I guess that's where...

We struggled often with people who landlock properties and they just say it's easy for us to keep it closed and open it up.

But with the developers and the mayor, we were able to access it.

And so many fantastic artists and businesses started there and many of which are still, you know, practising or operating now.

It was really, you know, in hindsight I think people look back so fondly because kids would love it.

They could run around on the carpet.