MALVERN Hills District Council is advertising for a new officer who will draw up an overall arts strategy.

The news has been welcomed by luminaries of the Malvern arts scene who say it will help attract thousands of pounds in arts grants.

The permanent post has been created as part of an internal reshuffle and the successful candidate will also have responsibilities to promote tourism and sport.

International sculptor Rose Garrard's, whose public artworks include the Malvinha fountain and Elgar sculptures on Belle Vue Terrace, said many talented local artists were denied access to funding because the Arts Council refused to give grants to districts which do not have specific arts strategies and personnel.

She said if the district had a strategy and officer in place it could have applied for ten times the £50,000 spent on the Enigma Fountain project.

Artist David Prentice cautiously welcomed the news, saying he hoped that whoever was appointed was able to do the job well.

He said that, because of the lack of a strategy, projects such as the excellent Autumn in Malvern Festival had to survive without any help.

William Boughton, musical director of the English Symphony Orchestra, agreed that a strategy would "open doors" for funding.

"It shows commitment to the arts," he said.

"The arts should thrive, not just survive and in order to thrive there needs to be a confidence on both sides that we're going to deliver."

Malvern Theatres chief executive Nic Lloyd was another who said a strategy would be useful.

"It will help to have a specific arts strategy," he said.

"It shows we are an area that wants to support the arts, and that can be crucial when we are going to investors, especially the Arts Council."