Sale of leather museum criticised by campaigners

The sale was formally approved at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday

A decision to sell Walsall Leather Museum to the town's college has been criticised by the MP and campaigners.

The controversial sale was agreed by the metropolitan borough council earlier this week despite protests from residents.

The building on Littleton Street West will be sold to the Walsall College to provide support for special educational needs and disabilities students, said the council.

Protestors have said the museum was important to the town as a marker of its leather making history. The council has said its intention is to find a new home for the museum.

Leather designer Lauren Broxton, who has been campaigning to save the museum, said she was gravely disappointed at the decision.

"It displays blatant disregard for heritage via the tokenistic use of some of the most vulnerable in society to justify their aims," she said.

The controversial decision, originally made on 24 September, was brought before a scrutiny committee earlier this week after five Labour councillors called it in.

But cabinet members doubled down on their stance to go ahead with the plans.

Plans to sell the site were first approved by cabinet on 24 September

MP Valerie Vaz said the college, with its "sizeable estate", needed to be asked why the museum was the only solution to provide a new SEND provision.

She said: "The Leather Museum is not currently suitable for a SEND provision and Walsall College has to make clear how they are planning to use public money to significantly refurbish the site."

She added: "The council has tried to justify its complete disregard not only for cultural heritage and popularity across the UK and internationally, but the impact on Walsall's leather industry and its potential to build on its world-leading reputation.

Councillor Klara Margetts said the Conservative cabinet's decision was disrespectful to the residents leaders are elected to serve.

She said: "As I said in Tuesday's meeting, 59 per cent of Walsall residents have voiced their opposition to this relocation, yet their voices are being ignored and dismissed by a cabinet intent on rushing through a sale without any transparency or accountability."

Walsall Leather Museum has been open in the town since 1998

A statement from the authority said it is "actively engaged" in finding the site a new home.

It said: "We are committed to relocating it to a central location within the town and we are liaising with many stakeholders about how the museum can become more viable in the long term."

The statement added: "We understand that some residents may have concerns about the relocation, but we would like to reassure them that their museum will continue to be an important part of Walsall borough in the future."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.