Snibston Discovery Museum to close after legal challenge fails - Museums Association

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Snibston Discovery Museum to close after legal challenge fails

Court dismisses campaigners' judicial review
Campaigners have lost their fight to keep the Snibston Discovery Museum in Coalville, Leicestershire, open after the Royal Courts of Justice in London dismissed a judicial review of plans to redevelop the site.

Following the judgement, Leicestershire County Council has confirmed that the museum will close on 31 July.

The council, which says it cannot afford the museum’s £900,000-a-year running costs, plans to sell the existing building to developers and create a smaller mining museum in the site’s adjoining colliery – a move that it says will save £580,000 annually.

“The county council welcomes today's judgement, which dismissed the judicial review on all grounds, ending the uncertainty for the public and staff,” a spokesman for Leicestershire County Council said.

“The council will now proceed with the closure of Snibston Discovery Museum on 31 July  in order to meet its savings target at a time of deepening financial pressure on the authority.”

The judicial review was made by Louise Hall, a volunteer at the museum, and supported by the Friends of Snibston in April.

Brian Vollar, the chairman of Friends of Snibston, said that it is seriously considering appealing the judgement.

The campaigners have called the closure “irrational” and have questioned the council’s decision-making process.

A motion to run the museum as an independent trust was turned down by the council earlier this year on the grounds that it was “financially unviable”.


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