| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Proposed closure of Wandsworth Museum | |
| Posted by: | Malcolm Grimston | |
| Date/Time: | 04/02/07 15:52:00 |
| As you will see from our proposals, the Borough’s Cultural Strategy, ‘Enriching Lives’, still very much underpins our approach, though naturally as times change some of the details change with them. The vision (page 20) remains central to our policies: "Our vision is for everyone to have the opportunity to participate in a rich variety of cultural activities within a diverse and vibrant borough." The success criterion for the changes we are proposing with the Museum and libraries is simply to increase the total number of visits, i.e. to widen the number of people who are taking the opportunity to participate in our culture. The importance of the five town centres is emphasised (e.g. pages 6 and also 19, where maintaining the distinctive five centres is supported by over 80% of consultees). However, it is noted that although the development of the Wandsworth Shopping Centre was one of the key cultural opportunities then in the pipeline (page 14): “Wandsworth is the only town centre in the borough without a library in its shopping area ... It is recognised that the Library Service could play a constructive role in the regeneration of the town centre by complementing the plans in the renewed Wandsworth Shopping Centre and by promoting social inclusion. Opportunities will, therefore, be kept under review.” (Page 46) When it comes to discussing the way Wandsworthians view culture, it is clear that for most of them Wandsworth remains a collection of villages rather than a single area (page 11). “Culture is also linked to the immediate neighbourhood and seen to take place at a very local level e.g. in Battersea, Tooting, Putney etc. Few people see the borough itself as a cultural entity. This was reflected in residents’ views towards local town centres, with a strong feeling that these should provide a sense of local neighbourhood identity.” (Page 17) This may go some way to explain why only a minority of people at the time (and now) visited the Museum. By having local cultural items in our town centre libraries, we will be able to work with the prevailing perception, giving people a feeling that the exhibits refer to an area they recognise, while also giving us an opportunity to get some Wandsworth-wide cultural messages across to far greater numbers of people than the Museum can do. The consideration of what cultural activities local residents take part in is important (page 17). “Visiting parks and open spaces is the most popular activity, with over three quarters of residents visiting them each month, followed by visits to libraries, sports centres/swimming pools and rivers or canals.” Our recent and proposed cultural actions have reflected these priorities among our residents – ongoing investment e.g. in Battersea Park and Tooting Common, a new library for Wandsworth town centre, £4.4 million investment in the sports centres and so on. The Museum is not mentioned on the list of cultural activities enjoyed by the majority of residents. Finally, we are aware that: “In general, respondents did not want the Council to … increase the levels of taxation to support cultural initiatives.” (Page 19) And of course council tax was much cheaper in those days than today. Although a new strategy will be produced in time to take account of the detailed changes, I doubt that the underlying principles – localising the activities, providing a library for Wandsworth town centre, focusing on the cultural activities which are people’s priorities and noting the desire not to increase taxes to pay for them – will change significantly, as they seem to me and my colleagues to be as relevant today as they were five years ago. |