Broadfield House to Close

[Bernard C]

Simon — Thanks, and apologies to Diana and Barbara.

I should have said:-

• Barbara Beadman of Plowden & Thompson, current Chairman of The Friends.

Bernard C. 

[simon bruntnell]

That's fine Bernard. One day I will learn to get my spellings right too.

[Anne]

Supplementary Planning Documents AND RESPONSE FORMS are now online!

This is for Stage 1 of the SPD (Evidence Gathering)  it says, which is to identify the are covered by the Glass Quarter. (It will be seen from the map that the existing BHGM at Kingswinford is outside the are of the proposed Glass Quarter boundary.)

http://www.dudley.gov.uk/environment--planning/planning/local-development-framework/glass-quarter-spd 
(scroll down to the bottom of the page)

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL RESPONSES MUST BE RECEIVED BY DUDLEY MBC BY 5PM ON MONDAY 23 FEBRUARY!!!

NOTE: according to Dudley MBC's Local Development Scheme (published March 2008, also downloadable from their website) the Glass Quarter SPD timetable should be as follows:

Timetable
Evidence Gathering  November 2008
Public Participation  July 2009
Representation  September 2009
Finalise Adoption December 2009

Curiously, the SPD documents now available on Dudley MBC website were only created on 22 Jan 2009! - that is 12 days after the origination of this topic. 

[Ettiene]

Hi Y'all,

just a quick update on the http://www.friendsofbroadfieldhouse.co.uk/ web site.

Nearly all the letters from this posting are now transfered but still have quite a few to do that have been copied to me. Letter index re-vamped and easier to use see http://www.friendsofbroadfieldhouse.co.uk/protest/indexofletters.html.

Bit of colour added in the header

Article  entitled "Who’s banning the petition?" posted on front page.

Articles on museum visitor numbers and a few other subjects will be posted once info from here and other sources is collated.

New page on the Glass Quarter proposal added see http://www.friendsofbroadfieldhouse.co.uk/newsinfo/newsviewsindex/nvsiitem0802031.html but as of this posting Dudley web site down. Will check in the morning in case they have moved the pages once its up again.

Thanks to David Encill for Hints & Tips on letter writing see http://www.friendsofbroadfieldhouse.co.uk/protest/letterspetitions/letterwriting.html. If there are any more that should added let me know. If anyone has some word templates to give people a start on layout please send them.

Send stuff to webatfriendsofbroadfieldhouse.co.uk


All the best


Ettiene

[Frank]

Minor aside...

Extract from the petition:
Neil Hynd no 756
"Scotland has now lost its historic glass display in its National
Museum, the Edinburgh city museum has closed its display. Broadfield
is the last remaining major centre outside London and should not be
lost! I have a small collection of glass I was planning to leave to
Broadfield and will now have to be satisfied that anything you now do
is of sufficiently high and wide ranging standards to merit such
patronage!"

Inaccurate, the NMS is undergoing major 3 year refurbishment so closure is temporary. The main Glass Collection at Huntly House is still in situ - however, rarely opened due to staff a.k.a. funding shortages.

[Frank]

• Barbara Beadman of Plowden & Thompson, current Chairman  :huh: of The Friends.

[Anne]

Frank, the name depends on what is specified in the constitution of the group, not the gender of the person holding the office. 

[aa]

http://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/news/4096868.Council_s_museum_PR_is__laughable_/

' Council's museum PR is "laughable" '   -click on the link to read the article!

[Frank]

The Stourbridge News also has a poll running, readers can vote there too to help the local press gauge interest! Link at end of article that Adam has just posted above.

[flyboy90]

"Meanwhile, Never Flinch, Never Weary, Never Despair."
Winston Churchill, Hansard, 1 March 1955

[Frank]

The Stourbridge News also has a poll running, readers can vote there too to help the local press gauge interest! Link at end of article that Adam has just posted above.

When I voted yesterday, it stood at Yes 4% No 96% seems that the yes's have grown a bit  Today:

Do you think the council should close Broadfield House?

Yes : 5%

No: 95%

[chopin-liszt]

I see in the comments from the supporters/signatories that a second petition to Downing Street asking for intervention has been created.

The link to sign up is here.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/savebroadfield/

[yelooc]

Letter From Ian Pearson MP to Cllr David Caunt
04 February 2009

Dear David

BROADFIELD HOUSE GLASS MUSEUM

I am writing formally to express my concerns over reports in the press that the Council is proposing to close Broadfield House Glass Museum and move the collections and research resource to the Red House Cone site.

As chair of the Red House Cone Trust I helped to raise £1.7million for its refurbishment and it is a superb facility.  I totally fail to see however that it could possibly house the internationally renowned glass collections that are currently at Broadfield House in its current buildings.

I have been approached by a number of Friends of Broadfield House who say they have not been consulted on this, nor has any detailed financial or practical evaluation been undertaken.  They are I believe taking a very constructive approach nonetheless, and tell me that they would support a move if it were to be an enhancement and improvement on what is currently on offer at Broadfield House. I fully support this view.  We have a proud glass heritage and currently curate some of the finest pieces to be found anywhere in the world.  We should be looking to do more to show it off, not cram it away somewhere mostly out of sight.

I think as an immediate first step the Council should assure the current staff at Broadfield House that their jobs are secure.  Following that they should, in examining the feasibility of options to enhance and improve the current offer, work closely with the Friends, The Glass Association and the Glass Circle.  I would, of course, be happy to lend my support in this matter as I did previously with the Red House Cone.

Yours sincerely
 
IAN PEARSON
cc Cllr David Sparks
cc Cllr Dave Tyler

[aa]

Online petition now stands at 981 and we have 20 signatures on the paper version here, so we are now into four figures.
1001 total.

How soon can we get to 10001?

 

[flyboy90]

Hello Adam,
You are quite right, The petition is good but we really need more numbers.
How can we go about this? Apart from word of mouth.
I know spamming isnt the best option but If everyone sends the link to 50 people on email, Letter or any other methods, Just 1 reply from all those is better than none!

Cheers, Nathan Smith