Anger as Walsall Leather Museum sold to college

Local TV

Campaigners and the town’s MP condemn Walsall Council’s decision to sell the Leather Museum building to Walsall College for SEND use, calling it a betrayal of the town’s heritage. The council says it will relocate the museum elsewhere.

Transcript

00:00A century ago, Walsall's name was stitched into saddles sold around the world.

00:07The Leather Museum became the town's reminder of that craft until now.

00:11The council says it's no longer viable to keep the museum where it is,

00:15and that the building will instead be used by Walsall College to support students with special educational needs.

00:22Officials call it a move towards inclusion and efficiency, heritage making way for community use.

00:28But many residents see it differently.

00:31They call the decision a cynical trade-off, using social care as moral cover for an asset sale.

00:37Around 6 in 10 people who took part in consultation opposed it,

00:41warning the town is losing more of its identity with every relocation.

00:46Local leather designer Lauren Broxton has led the campaign to save the site.

00:51She says the council is showing blight and disregard for heritage,

00:54and that the building itself tells the story of Walsall's craft, sweat and skill.

01:00MP Valerie Vaz questions why the college, with a larger state of its own, needs this site at all.

01:06She's demanding clarity on how public money will be spent to convert a Victoria the factory into a SEND facility,

01:14and whether it's even suitable for that purpose.

01:17The Conservative cabinet though has doubled down saying relocation plans are underway,

01:22and that the museum will remain part of the borough's cultural life.

01:26Opponents don't buy it, they point to other closures and broken promises,

01:31and fear that relocation will soon mean disappearance.

01:35For them this isn't just about bricks and leather, it's about honesty, heritage,

01:40and what kind of talent Walsall chooses to become.

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