[Museumfriends] Update

[Barry.Say at nspipes.co.uk]

For the list members, here is a copy of an article in the latest NPS 
newsletter and a flyer included with it. members should reveive these 
tomorrow (Monday). The prospects are brighter but the struggle goes 
on!

Barry
----------------------

Article from the body of the Newsletter

Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum 
- a progress report 28th Feb 2005

I won't bore members by covering old ground on the Chantry situation 
especially as things have been a bit quiet since the Christmas. It is 
quite possible there will be some significant developments in the 
next week or two and if necessary, we will include a flyer in the 
posting.

I reported in the flyer last time that the council would be 
undertaking 3 feasibility studies and seeking indications of 
commercial interest. An advert appeared in the local press asking for 
offers to lease the Chantry. There were several indications of 
interest (the phrase "every Tom, Dick and Harry" was used) and all 
applicants received an information pack of 3 inches thick, contained 
in a lever arch file. No charge was made for this, which probably 
contributed to the number of enquiries. The closing date was last 
Friday, and a local group who are concerned over the future of the 
Chantry have entered a proposal to run it as a charitable trust. I am 
part of this group, but no real progress can be made with a business 
plan until we can get information from the Council concerning the 
financial state of the various aspects of the Chantry operation. Now 
the closing date has passed, Mr Beauchamp will prepare a report, 
which will be presented to a special meeting of the General 
Management Committee on a date to be arranged. If at all possible, I 
will attend that meeting.

We understand that the Council have decided how they are going to 
carry out the feasibility studies but as far as we know, no one 
involved with the attempt to keep the Bagpipe Museum at the Chantry 
has been approached for information. We await developments on this 
front.

We understand that the Council has at least one proposal in mind for 
the future of the Town Hall, which could have a bearing on the 
Chantry, but this is being kept confidential for the time being.
Meetings are continuing and if there are any developments before 
posting, we will include a flyer.

Barry Say
-------------------------
Text from Flier

Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum 
- an update 10th March 2005

Decisions about the future of the Chantry really seem to be happening 
in slow motion at the moment. As I understand it, there were three 
responses in total to the advert in the local press inviting 
expressions of interest for running the Chantry building on a 
commercial basis. 

One of these was the proposal put forward by Kim Bibby-Wilson that a 
charitable trust be formed to take over the running of the Chantry, 
retaining the Bagpipe Museum. Kim is acting as the representative of 
a wide-ranging group of interested parties including the NPS, and she 
has a list of potential trustees who have indicated a willingness to 
participate in the process. To take the project forward would require 
a great deal of planning, and more information from the Council, so 
that a viable business plan could be generated. Some information has 
already been requested but there has been no response from the 
Council to date.

Another proposal apparently arose from within the CMBC structure. If 
this were the case it would generate much speculation, but rules of 
confidentiality prevent me from advancing an opinion at this point.
The third was a proper commercial proposal but it was received late 
and will apparently not be considered. 

CMBC are insisting that the proposals remain confidential, and I may 
unwittingly have put 2 and 2 together and made 5, but where secrecy 
is invoked, speculation will abound. A report will be prepared and 
submitted to the Council, but this will probably not occur until late 
April, and even then it may be confidential. It is not clear whether 
a preferred option will be proposed at that point.

The whole exercise has shown that there is no significant interest 
from the commercial sector in leasing the Chantry building. This is 
not entirely surprising when it's siting and the difficulties of 
access are considered. When the restrictions which would be put on 
the use of such an historic Grade 1 listed building are added, the 
fully commercial options are very limited. It is a pity that so much 
money and energy have been expended to come to this conclusion.
Much of the pressure on the Chantry was generated by the results of a 
SIMALTO survey, which by its design, showed that the inhabitants of 
the CMBC area thought that having their bins emptied and the grass 
cut were more important than supporting landmark buildings. There is 
to be another of these, but it seems that the council will put more 
care into the design. One factor which will influence this is that 
there are great changes occurring in the policy on Tourism in the 
region which is bringing greater pressure on CounciIs to support the 
culture and heritage assets within their areas.  

The situation is looking much healthier for the Bagpipe Museum, but 
we can't afford to relax the pressure, although we will try and seek 
co-operation with CMBC over the future of the Bagpipe Museum. It is 
my personal opinion that it is not enough to preserve the current 
status of the Bagpipe Museum, we must ensure that when the Council 
again falls on hard times, the Chantry and the Bagpipe Museum are not 
the prime targets of cost-cutting ventures. 

Barry Say