Textile Mills museum’s future is secured
HELMSHORE Mills Textile Museum has had its longterm future secured following surprise spending promises in Lancashire County Council’s ( LCC) budget statement.
The county hall has allocated £936,000 a year to ensure the museum, along with Burnley’s Queen Street Mill, remain open to the public.
Extra cash is set to be invested in roads and buses, with an additional £5m in capital spending on highway repairs, while bus services will get a £1.5m boost this year and £3m in each of the next three years.
But residents will see a jump in their council tax bills to pay for the investment, with LCC increasing its share of the levy by 3.99 percent from April, two percent of which is ringfenced for social care.
Last July the county council ploughed more than £1m into Lancashire’s museums service to cover running costs for the conservation and collections team at the Holcombe Road museum until the end of March 2021, however until this week’s announcement, there was no funding to keep it open to the general public.
County Coun Peter Buckley, cabinet member for cultural services, told the Free Press: “The two museums will receive this additional funding for the next four years, helping to ensure their long-term future. The money will also be used to support the conservation and collections service, based in Preston.
“We are committed to supporting the museums, and we are working with the National Trust to explore further opportunities for their long-term sustainability.”
LCC’s council tax precept rise - the maximum increase permitted by government without it being put to a referendum - equates to an extra £53 per year on a band D property, and combined with respective proposed hikes of 1.99pc and 5pc by Rossendale council and the Police and Crime Commissioner, bills are set to rise by £65pa for Band D, with even the lowest Band A homes facing a £44 annual rise.
The authority is currently working with a team of third party consultants on a plan to overhaul the way it operates in order to plug a £38m funding gap which is forecast by 2023.
Lancashire County Council leader Geoff Driver paid tribute to the hard work of staff and declared that his administration had turned the authority from ‘ a basket case to a showcase’ since being re-elected in 2017.
However, the Labour opposition stressed the impact of the £600m cut from the authority’s finances by the coalition and Conservative governments.
Liberal Democrat group leader David Whipp also honed in on what he described as ‘unsustainable council tax increases’.
The Green Party’s Coun Gina Dowding accused the ruling Tory group of failing to show ‘leadership’ on climate change.