At the St Edmundsbury Cabinet meeting yesterday (7 December) members discussed the findings of the five-month long Heritage Services Review.
This review looked at future options for Moyse's Hall and Manor House museums in Bury St Edmunds, West Stow Country Park and Anglo-Saxon Village and the Haverhill Local History Centre. Cabinet recommended to full Council, which takes the final decision on 13 December, to approve Option 2 (to close the Manor House Museum in April 2006, provide a storage and study centre at West Stow, relocate the archaeology collection, provide more outreach work, and display some Manor House collections at Moyse's Hall Museum, estimated Council Tax saving of £212,200 in 2007/08) with a view to working towards Option 3 - major investment in West Stow - in the future.
The Cabinet stressed it wanted to work with funders, partners and interested organisations to make a success of a combined museums and heritage service, and to look at ways of making the collections more accessible while keeping in mind benefits to St Edmundsbury's Council Tax payers.
Cllr Nigel Aitkens; the Cabinet member leading the review, said:
"People need to remember that the Manor House as a magnificent Georgian building is safe and will continue to delight generations to come. It is the collections that we want to bring to a wider audience and we believe that this option will do that. Moyse's Hall, with its town centre location, is ideally placed especially for those items which have a distinct Bury St Edmunds focus. And West Stow, with its 130,000 visitors a year, gives us a wonderful opportunity to provide a facility where we can make the collections accessible to researchers and students while being able to care for them in the right way."
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Cabinet recommendation 2
Cllr Aitkens added:
"We have a duty to our Council Tax payers who often tell us of their concerns about
high rises each year. This option means we can provide a better service while also
saving money which will help us keep rises to the minimum."
Cabinet's full recommendations were that:
(1) the findings of the Heritage Services Review, as set out in Paper W393, be noted;
(2) subject to (4) below, option two, as set out in Paper W393, be adopted with the intention of working towards option three in the future;
(3) the Borough Council continues to engage with its funders, other partners and interested parties to ensure the successful delivery of a combined Museum and Heritage Service and to explore new ways of accessing the collections which are beneficial to Council Tax payers;
(4) when he has made arrangements for the relocation and care of the collections, the Corporate Director for Community, in consultation with the Council Leader and the relevant Portfolio Holders, be authorised to close the Manor House as a museum;
(5) as set out in Paper W393 the position of the Gershom-Parkington Trust be noted and officers be authorised to meet with the surviving trustees to investigate the future development of the Trust;
(6) The staffing structure and redundancy procedures contained in exempt appendix 10 to Report W393 be followed; and
(7) the Corporate Director for Community be authorised, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holders, to make minor changes to the staff structure of the selected option, subject to the costs remaining within the budget estimates.
ENDS
ISSUED BY MARIANNE HULLAND, COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel 01284 757034. marianne.hulland@stedsbc.gov.uk
