Pete Courtie, Head of Culture and Placemaking

Posted on 15 Jul 2025

From international theatre tours to leading creative change in local communities, Pete’s career is rooted in unlocking the power of culture to transform people and places.                                     

Tell us a bit about yourself!
I’m Pete Courtie, the Head of Culture and Placemaking at Rochdale Development Agency (RDA). My background is in theatre, I started my career with Insomniac Productions, touring the world and working on extraordinary visual theatre projects.

Since then, I’ve worked with several local authorities, including Lancaster, Islington, and Stoke-on-Trent, before spending time at Arts Council England as a Senior Relationship Manager. In that role, I worked closely with Greater Manchester Local Authorities and Factory International.

Now, I find myself here in Rochdale, leading an exciting new function within the RDA that’s all about bringing culture, placemaking, and visitor economy together to create real impact in the borough.

What is your role with the RDA?
As Head of Culture and Placemaking, I oversee a small but dedicated team working across Six key areas: cultural development, festivals, placemaking, visitor economy, Film and town centre management. Our role is all about enabling and facilitating Rochdale’s fantastic cultural and economic infrastructure, unlocking its potential to attract investment, create jobs, and, just as importantly, bring joy to people’s lives.

We work with schools, cultural organisations, and businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors to help make Rochdale a place people are proud to live, work, and visit. A big focus for us is engaging children and young people through arts and culture, helping them discover new opportunities, develop aspirations, and see a future for themselves in creative industries.

What projects do you work on?
The Culture and Placemaking function is a relatively new one at the RDA, but we’ve already got some exciting projects underway. Our cultural development work is all about supporting artists, arts organisations, and venues, making sure local residents and visitors have access to fantastic cultural activities.

One of our biggest priorities is developing a strategic festivals programme, working with local communities and artists to co-produce festivals that highlight Rochdale’s talent and animate our public spaces. We want Rochdale to be at the centre of contemporary festival practice, creating experiences that bring people together and showcase the borough’s creative energy.

Our placemaking work ensures that Rochdale’s built environment reflects the needs of the people who live and work here. Whether it’s public art, green spaces, or town centre improvements, we want to make sure our spaces are inviting, inclusive, and vibrant.

On the visitor economy side, we’re working to enhance Rochdale’s hospitality and retail offer, capitalising on major developments like the town hall restoration to attract more visitors, increase footfall, and boost local businesses. It’s all about making Rochdale a thriving, welcoming destination.

One of the most exciting things happening in Rochdale right now is our Greater Manchester Town of Culture status 25/26. This is a huge opportunity for us to showcase the incredible talent, creativity, and cultural heritage of the borough. Being awarded this status isn’t just about celebrating what we already have, it’s about building something bigger for the future.

Why did you choose to work in Rochdale?
I had been working behind the scenes in Rochdale for about four years while I was at Arts Council England, and I was struck by the borough’s incredible sense of community. Rochdale has a huge heart, people genuinely care about making a difference, and there’s a real spirit of collaboration here. The grassroots activism is inspiring; people don’t just talk about change, they take action. That’s what drew me in. I wanted to be part of that energy and help shape Rochdale’s future through culture and placemaking.

What do you really enjoy about your profession?
For me, it’s all about unlocking potential, whether that’s in places, organisations, or people. I love being able to support artists, venues, and businesses in creating opportunities that might not have existed otherwise. Seeing children and young people discover a passion for the arts, helping a local business connect with a cultural opportunity, or transforming a space into something that brings people together, that’s what makes this work so rewarding.

What makes you get up in the morning?
The belief that anything is possible. Creativity has the power to transform lives and places, and I get to be part of that every day. Whether it’s planning a new festival, supporting a community-led project, or working on long-term cultural strategies, I love the idea that we’re shaping something meaningful that will leave a lasting impact on Rochdale.

Tell us something people don’t know about you!
After graduating from the University of Lancaster, I joined Pete Brooks and Insomniac Productions, touring internationally with some incredible theatre pieces. One of our shows, L’Ascensore, was set in a hotel lift in Little Italy and won ‘Best International Piece’ at the Chilean Art Festival. We also took work to the Perth International Art Festival and across Europe, though ironically, we didn’t perform much in the UK!

Later, I took a year out and moved to Halton as a drama animateur, working on projects that helped young people find their creative voice. One of the highlights was taking a piece to the Millennium Dome in 2000. It was an extraordinary production, featuring a soundtrack by Towering Inferno and a concept by Pete Brooks. Some people described it as a Robert Wilson-style theatre piece, which was a huge compliment. That experience cemented my belief that community-based arts should have the same high production values and artistic ambition as professional theatre. There should be no limits, anything is possible.