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Mid Wales Journal:
Rent hike puts museum's future in doubt
The future of one of the major cycle collections of
Europe - based in Mid Wales - is under threat because
of a three-fold increase in rent.
The Welsh Development Agency has increased the rent on
the Automobile Palace in Llandrindod Wells from £3,000
to £10,000 a year, leaving the National Cycle Museum
desperate to find means to survive.
Items from the museum's reserve collections have been
sold off for cash and the trustees of the museum are
having to resort to jumble sales to raise funds to
maintain the exhibits.
There will be a charity sale at Pritchard's Garage in
Llandrindod next week to raise money to plug the
funding gap.
But the trustees warn that the museum is now at
serious risk in Llandrindod Wells and may have to go
into storage mode or move out to preserve the
important collection.
Curator David Higman told members of the town council
on Tuesday that the situation was serious. "We have
been existing by selling surplus material but at the
end of the day, that is going to run out.
"We have to raise about £8,000 to plug the funding gap
and we do not want to go into debt.
"When we get to a certain point when it's looking
really bleak we will have to go into storage mode.
"We have got responsibilities, we have one of the
finest collections in the country and if it comes to a
brick wall we have to protect and preserve the
collection.
"We like operating in Llandrindod Wells, the cycle
museum and the town are right for each other."
Secretary of the trustees, Scotford Lawrence, said:
"In the current situation all our efforts result in
the generation of funds which go straight into the
coffers of the Welsh Development Agency.
"While we have been and are extremely grateful to the
Welsh Development Agency for financial help with
various small one-off items, these are of little use
to us if we are at the same time burdened with
continuing overheads which we are unable to meet from
our available income and resources.
"It is ironic that the museum is now at serious risk
in Llandrindod Wells from the policies of an
organisation whose aim is the creation of commercial
activities in Wales."
He called for a meeting between trustees and the WDA
to discuss the matter.
Town Mayor Councillor Derek Law said: "It's a
phenomenal thing to have a National Cycle Museum in
the town."
The town council agreed to write to the WDA pointing
out what an asset the museum was to the town and their
concerns about the financial situation.
--
Rob
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