Archive - Thursday, 6 January 2005


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Centre's future still uncertain

A DECISION on the future of Cotswold District Council's Heritage Centre has been deferred to next month.

Options that could see the centre reopen in 2006 or be sold on the open market were discussed by the council's cabinet shortly before Christmas.

However, members said that they could not make a final decision until they had visited the site in Northleach.

The centre, which housed 30,000 objects of rural interest and social history, was closed in 2001 as part of a £2 million cost-cutting exercise.

Since then campaigners have lobbied for the museum to reopen and talks have been held between the district council, Northleach Town Council and other interested parties.

The three options for the site include improving it and adding a commercially-run caf, turning it into a tourist attraction called Cotswold Fine Food or selling it to the highest bidder.

Council officer Kim Cooper said in a report to councillors: "There remains in the community the hope that the heritage centre could be reopened. There is a risk, therefore, of considerable public opposition to the disposal of the site.

"There is also a risk that the expected capital receipt may not be realised.

"Option three would undoubtedly cause disruption and short-term difficulties for the Cotswold AONB board - currently based at the centre - and this could have some knock-on effect on the council's currently very good relationship with the body."

The heritage centre building is a former house of correction built in 1791, one of only two surviving examples in the country. The district council converted it into a museum in 1981.