THE museum has been an asset to Westonians for over a century.
THE museum has been an asset to Westonians for over a century. The exhibitions, both permanent and themed, were a source of inspiration to my friends and me when we were kids. It taught us about our identity and the achievements of our town.
I left Weston to live abroad but I always come back to see the place in a kind of melancholy little annual pilgrimage.
When you look at this town, where I grew up, we have a pile of rubble on the seafront that was once a beautiful art deco lido pool, Dr Fox's Knightstone Baths and the old theatre are flats. If you want to swim you have to go inland in a seaside town - ridiculous!
Now they are chucking the museum, the Playhouse and the Winter Gardens the same way as the model village and the model railway went.
If you want a perspective on what Weston is losing then look in one of Sharon Poole's excellent books on the history of Weston.
Not everything is supposed to make a profit, some things are there just for the good of the community.
When I hear how much the council tax is in Weston and then see what is being jettisoned and look at what is left then I wonder where all that money goes.
You're being asked to accept that the museum is not profitable and that this justifies closing it down, but ask the same question on a bigger perspective - the whole town. Can Weston afford the unitary authority? I gather it is soon to be based in a seaside town near you - Clevedon.
For what it's worth I think that Weston should be a borough on its own and not part of the 'Unitary Authority', that as far as I can tell, has unfailingly worked towards the (unachieved yet) objective of reducing a great and famous seaside town to a grubby little place by the sea near Bristol. Think of Severn Beach.
ANDY CARTER
Roujan, France
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