On Monday 23rd March we addressed Oxford City Council and subject to this the petition was debated and they have agreed to look again at ways in which to provide free access to the Museum of Oxford.
We had a well attended protest outside on the steps of the Town Hall and greeted all the councillors as they arrived for the full council meeting. Thank you so much to everyone who came along with banners and placards. Please see the update on our website saveourmuseum.weebly.com. There is full coverage of the event, the full speech given by us and also the response from Susan Brown, the leader of Oxford City Council.
We called for the entry fees to be dropped immediately and for the council to work in partnership with the museum staff to find alternative ways to secure its future. In her response Susan Brown acknowledged that conflicting figures had been put out so consequently the council have agreed to 'recommend to the Planning and Culture cabinet that further opportunities to provide free access to the museum for the community be explored'
Questions were asked by supporting councillors and many reasons given for keeping the museum free for the people of Oxford. One councillor expressed his anger that the wrong figures had been put out in the public domain. When we left the museum we felt very encouraged by all the support expressed by the council and we were very glad that we had challenged the information and reasons that the Planning and Culture cabinet had given for charging an entrance fee.
Our work is not done and we will continue to engage with the council and make sure that they follow through with what they have promised. There are local elections coming up soon so do ask your candidates if they are committed to making sure that the Museum of Oxford will return to being free again for the people of Oxford. Please keep sharing the petition as the protest is far from over.
from Avril Alexander of behalf of the Save Our Museum Campaign
Go to saveourmuseum.weebly.com for the full story