Red House Museum is saved in council budget rethink (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Councillors hold off Bronte family linked mansion closure plan after campaigners urge re-evaluation

11:10am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Spen By Jo Winrow

Red House Museum

An under-threat museum was given an eleventh-hour reprieve at a dramatic meeting last night after passionate speeches from campaigners opposed to its closure.

Controversial proposals to close Red House Museum in Gomersal, which has strong connections to the Bronte family, went before leading members of Kirklees Council last night.

The councillors were meeting to agree their final budget for next year, which included the proposed closure of the Edwardian mansion.

However, after calls from hundreds of objectors, the Labour-run cabinet decided to amend budget proposals published last month and recommend keeping Red House open. The recommendation will now go to full council to be agreed later this month.

The council said that removing the proposal to close Red House will mean £116,000 will need to be found through ‘charges’ to cover the budget shortfall.

Those charges would be across the council’s whole museums service and could include introducing entrance charges at those that are currently free, or generating income by hiring them out as wedding venues.

Council leader Mehboob Khan said: “Many councils face similar issues to us in that we are being squeezed by central government at the same time as our income streams are also being hit because of the slow economic recovery.

Under the Council’s original proposals, any Bronte history and local history exhibits would have been moved to other museums, including nearby Oakwell Hall in Birstall.

There were more than 900 responses to the proposals to close the museum, which last year attracted 30,000 visitors, as well as a petition from the Bronte Society containing 143 signatures.

Gordon North, vice-chairman of the Spen Valley Civic Society, lobbied the meeting to call for councillors to rethink the closure plans.

He said: “Red House Museum isn’t about the artefacts within, its about the house itself, and that can’t be transferred anywhere else.”

A final decision will be made at a full council meeting on Wednesday, February 22.