Representatives from St Edmundsbury Borough Council and a steering group looking to set up a museum trust met today to look at ways of working together in the future.
After the meeting, Council Leader Cllr John Griffiths said:
"It was a very constructive meeting but there is still a lot of work to be done."
At the meeting, agreement was reached that the borough council will continue to work towards closing ManorHouseMuseum on 31 March. Agreeing the principle of closure, the group's representatives told St Edmundsbury that they hope their trust would then be able to reopen it at a future date with a new identity. Meanwhile the group has been encouraged to identify the funding necessary to ensure their business plan is able to bring the same level of financial benefit to the borough's Council Tax payer as set out in the Heritage Services Review.
The review option approved at the December meeting of the full St Edmundsbury Borough Council identified more than £200,000 of savings to Council Tax payers. This included closing the ManorHouseMuseum (subject to plans being made for its collection), moving some of the collection to Moyse's HallMuseum in the town centre, and making substantial improvements to WestStowCountryPark and Anglo-SaxonMuseum, including a new storage and study facility.
St Edmundsbury has always stated that it is willing to work with anyone who believes they can make a success of the Manor House Museum, but any proposal has to make sure Council Tax payers are not left in a worse position. The current business plan put forward by the steering group has a funding gap in it, meaning that Council Tax payers (there are more than 44,000 of them in the borough) would lose out.
St Edmundsbury's representatives at today's meeting suggested various alternatives, such as charitable lending institutions and third party funders, that the group could approach to close this funding gap.
After the meeting, Borough Council Leader Cllr John Griffiths said:
"We had a very constructive meeting and welcome the enthusiasm shown by the steering group. Their plan is ambitious but if it is built on solid and viable grounds then they should be confident of attracting funding for it from a number of sources. We have made positive suggestions to assist in this regard and look forward to them demonstrating that they can take things forward in a way that is beneficial both to our heritage services and to our Council Tax payers."
Other potential support has also been offered by St Edmundsbury, such as a curatorial service to take care of the collection, and adjustments to building maintenance costs which will help to improve the figures in the group's business plan.
ENDS
Note:
For the full Heritage Services Review report go to www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk and click on the report link from the homepage.
ISSUED BY MARIANNE HULLAND, COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel 01284 757034. marianne.hulland@stedsbc.gov.uk
