| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Proposed closure of Wandsworth Museum | |
| Posted by: | Jonathan Callaway | |
| Date/Time: | 11/01/07 20:56:00 |
| Dear Mr Grimston I have read your further posts since mine of about 24 hours ago. Firstly, your position is becoming ever more clear - you want the museum to close, absent - it would appear - an overwhelming protest which might seriously threaten your party's re-election next time around. Secondly, you do not appear to be ready to consider any of the alternative proposals people have put forward, nor have you explained why you think replacing the museum with a library would work (in fact you state in your earliest post that this would be "... a complex proposal and we will need to do a lot of consultation and calculation to see if it will work.") Am I alone in fearing that what you will conclude is that the building is not best suited to having a library in it and selling it off becomes the 'only option'? Thirdly, you have not answered some of the questions raised, such as: - how does the £400,000 p.a. break down? Is all of it incremental expense? - what would the cost to each council taxpayer be if the £400,000 p.a. were added to the council tax. A reasonable question ,what is the answer? - who will you consult with and are you prepared to listen? - where will the exhibits go if the museum does close? - is the Wandsworth Local History Service in Battersea also threatened? If not (and I hope not) might it be viable to combine the museum with it? I am afraid I am as unimpressed as others with your proposal that if a "Friends of the Museum" organisation is formed, it will need to raise £2mn to secure the museum's future. That is clearly an utterly unrealistic figure, however committed a number of borough residents might be. What I had in mind was a fundraising vehicle which would raise funds on a regular basis to support the museum, i.e. make a contribution to its costs, not take it over lock, stock and barrel. You mention a number of times the mandate the council got in the last election but that does not give you carte blanche. It will not have escaped your notice that this is already the longest thread on this Forum for quite some time. That should indicate that it is not just a small minority who are upset at the prospect of losing the library. A more constructive approach to solving the problem and some genuine listening would not go amiss! I await the papers for the Environment & Leisure OSC with interest. |