The future of the collections is uncertain, but it is thought that they will initially be stored in three disused chapels in the borough.
Brennan said that the planned closure would save the council £400,000 a year, contributing towards an estimated £5m shortfall across the council. He blamed the shortfall on a lack of funding from central government.
A report recommending the closure of the museum will go to the environment and leisure overview and scrutiny committee on 6 February and a final decision will be made by the executive committee on 19 February.
But some members of the council are giving the impression of having made up their minds already. On PutneySW15.com, an internet community forum, under the heading Proposed Closure of Wandsworth Museum, councillor Malcolm Grimston wrote last month: 'The museum at present is not a well-used facility… as anyone who has visited the great museums in South Kensington recently will know, static exhibitions are very much a thing of the past.
'So we are also looking into the possibility of creating a new web-based museum to widen access to the best exhibits… keeping the museum in anything like its current shape seems to me simply not an option.'
Valerie Bott, a museum consultant who helped to set up the museum and was its development officer from 1986 to 1988, told Museums Journal: 'Councillor Grimston has some peculiar ideas about museums. Wandsworth Museum is unquestionably successful - in the eyes of users, in the eyes of its peers and through the museum accreditation standard that it was awarded last summer.'
The council's own figures show that visitors increased from 27,800 in 2005-06 to 28,400 in 2006-07.
Although the council first looked at the proposals last autumn, staff were only informed last month, said a source close to the museum, and 'are extremely upset at smears on the standards of the museum and of their work by politicians saying that the museum has been underused and is not a great success.'
The level of local animosity towards the plans is 'very high', according to Neil Robson, the vice-chairman of the Wandsworth Historical Society. He said: 'People have donated items to the museum, so the council is a beneficiary and has taken on a legacy. There is an implicit assumption that these items will be taken care of and be accessible. The total closure of the museum is a breach of that mandate. And a disused chapel is an inappropriate storage place.'
Both the Museums Association and Museums, Libraries and Archives London have written to the council urging it not to go ahead with the closure.
Graham Fisher, the chief executive of MLA London, said: 'Wandsworth Museum is very important. It is an excellent local authority museum and it would be a shame to throw that away.'
Wandsworth Council is also proposing to withdraw support for the highly respected Battersea Arts Centre, which will be forced to close if threatened £370,000 annual cuts go ahead.
Patrick Steel
Brennan said that the planned closure would save the council £400,000 a year, contributing towards an estimated £5m shortfall across the council. He blamed the shortfall on a lack of funding from central government.
A report recommending the closure of the museum will go to the environment and leisure overview and scrutiny committee on 6 February and a final decision will be made by the executive committee on 19 February.
But some members of the council are giving the impression of having made up their minds already. On PutneySW15.com, an internet community forum, under the heading Proposed Closure of Wandsworth Museum, councillor Malcolm Grimston wrote last month: 'The museum at present is not a well-used facility… as anyone who has visited the great museums in South Kensington recently will know, static exhibitions are very much a thing of the past.
'So we are also looking into the possibility of creating a new web-based museum to widen access to the best exhibits… keeping the museum in anything like its current shape seems to me simply not an option.'
Valerie Bott, a museum consultant who helped to set up the museum and was its development officer from 1986 to 1988, told Museums Journal: 'Councillor Grimston has some peculiar ideas about museums. Wandsworth Museum is unquestionably successful - in the eyes of users, in the eyes of its peers and through the museum accreditation standard that it was awarded last summer.'
The council's own figures show that visitors increased from 27,800 in 2005-06 to 28,400 in 2006-07.
Although the council first looked at the proposals last autumn, staff were only informed last month, said a source close to the museum, and 'are extremely upset at smears on the standards of the museum and of their work by politicians saying that the museum has been underused and is not a great success.'
The level of local animosity towards the plans is 'very high', according to Neil Robson, the vice-chairman of the Wandsworth Historical Society. He said: 'People have donated items to the museum, so the council is a beneficiary and has taken on a legacy. There is an implicit assumption that these items will be taken care of and be accessible. The total closure of the museum is a breach of that mandate. And a disused chapel is an inappropriate storage place.'
Both the Museums Association and Museums, Libraries and Archives London have written to the council urging it not to go ahead with the closure.
Graham Fisher, the chief executive of MLA London, said: 'Wandsworth Museum is very important. It is an excellent local authority museum and it would be a shame to throw that away.'
Wandsworth Council is also proposing to withdraw support for the highly respected Battersea Arts Centre, which will be forced to close if threatened £370,000 annual cuts go ahead.
Patrick Steel
