CORNWALL Council looks set to invest more than half a million pounds in creative industries which will lead to an additional £5million coming into the Duchy.

The council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve the funding when it meets next week, by approving the funds extra money will be available through national and European funding programmes.

As part of the plans grants will be paid to a number of individual projects across Cornwall which are also bidding for extra grants.

They include Creative Kernow which will get £340,000 which will allow them to extend their European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) funded project which provides support for businesses in the creative sector and is also set to establish a model to support the TV and film sector in Cornwall.

Newlyn Art Gallery would get £50,000 towards an “innovative participation, employment and audience diversity project” called New Voices in deprived areas in Cornwall.

A grant of £20,000 is earmarked for IntoBodmin which is planning an engagement and inclusive participation project.

The Ordinalia Nessa Project has been allocated £100,000 to stage three Medieval mystery plays in Cornwall in 2020.

And £30,000 is to be given to “maximise the opportunities presented by the Mayflower 400 celebrations”.

All the funding comes as part of a memorandum of understanding that Cornwall Council and the Local Enterprise Partnership entered into in February with national organisations including the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England.

This agreement created a partnership for the different organisations to work together to help boost the creative and cultural sectors in Cornwall while also providing economic growth opportunities.

By providing funding Cornwall Council will help unlock £5,051,291 from the EU and national funding schemes for the various projects.

One of the major strands of the projects is the plan to set up a Screen Cornwall agency which will look to promote Cornwall for use in TV and film projects.

The report to Cabinet states that Visit Cornwall data shows that 12% of visitors to Cornwall are influenced by Poldark and 13% by Doc Martin. When this is applied to visitors from the US 50% say their visit was influenced by the two hit TV shows.

Visit Cornwall says that the economic impact of film and TV is currently around £60m a year to the Cornwall economy.

Cornwall Council’s Cabinet will meet on Wednesday (June 19) to discuss the plans.