Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Mr B Davison.

The Committee is invited to confirm as a correct record the notes of the previous meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2024 were agreed as a correct record.

To consider any matters arising.

There were no matters arising.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

There were no declarations of interest.

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The Assistant Head of Museums introduced the report on the King’s Lynn Museum activities in the period from December 2023 to February 2024.

The Assistant Head of Museums drew the Committee’s attention to section 1 of the report on Covid-19 and Infection Control service update and explained that it had been proposed with other Area Museum Committee’s that they would no longer report on this specifically going forward as they were coming out of the winter period but assured the Committee that they would continue to monitor the situation closely across the service in terms of both risks around Covid and other infections.

The Curator of the Lynn Museum drew the Committee’s attention to the following areas of the report:

·        Exhibitions and events at Lynn Museum

o   The Tiger Who Came to Tea Exhibition

o   Current Exhibition: The Moon: Meet our Nearest Neighbour

o   Family events

o   Family Trails

o   Mini Museum

o   Coffee Mornings

o   Talks Programme

The Curator of the Lynn Museum invited the Committee to ask any questions in relation to section 2 of the report.

Councillor A Kemp referred to the family trails and asked whether postcodes were recorded to find out how many people were coming from particular wards. In response, the Curator explained they did not currently take postcode information from people but advised when people book they would get a sense of where people were coming from.

Following on from the question raised by Councillor A Kemp, the Chair, Councillor A Bubb commented that people may be interested in signing up to receive emails around upcoming events and asked whether there was something already in existence. In response, the Assistant Head of Museums confirmed they had a newsletter which visitors could sign up for and highlighted that they encourage visitors to join their Museum Pass Membership Scheme which enables them to keep up to date with all sorts of things happening across the service.

The Committee’s attention was drawn further to the following areas of the report:

·        Newman Legacy project

·        Other Museum developments

o   Publicity and promotion

o   Building Work at Lynn Museum

The Chair invited questions and comments in relation to those areas of the report.

Councillor M de Whalley referred to the building work at the Lynn Museum and asked whether it would enable a refresh of the Seahenge Exhibition. He advised there was some additional work commissioned by the British Museum for the display of the loan of Seahenge and asked whether any of that work could be incorporated into the Exhibition. He added the Borough Council was hoping in the winter to install 7 Oak trees as part of an Acorns Project and wondered whether the Museum Service were interested in creating a link to this at Seahenge. In response, the Curator explained they did not have current plans to refresh the Seahenge displays as part of the building works closure period but confirmed they did have plans  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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The Committee received the report of the Museum Curator at True’s Yard.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the following areas of the report:

·        Temporary exhibitions and events at True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum

o   True’s Talks

·        Learning and Outreach

o   Half term activities

o   Festival of Archaeology

o   Oral History Project – Capturing Memories

The Museum Curator at True’s Yard invited questions and comments from the Committee in relation to the report.

The Chair, Councillor A Bubb referred to the Festival of Archaeology and asked whether there were plans to do dredging in the moat around Loke Road in North Lynn. In response, the Museum Curator at True’s Yard was unsure but would raise this question.

Councillor M de Whalley raised a question in relation to the push for the stories of North End and asked whether there was anything the Borough Council could do to publicise this work. In response, the Museum Curator explained print media would be more likely to be seen and suggested working with libraries and putting up posters.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Tourism Department Update (Jan-Feb 2024)

Of the duo of full-time members within the department, one of the staff members left the authority for pastures new on 1st of March 2024, with one remaining staff member in post in the Tourism department at this time – Phillip Eke.

We are starting to go through the recruitment process to fill the vacant position, for a fixed-term contract post, as seen here: https://www.jobtrain.co.uk/west-norfolk/Job/JobDetail?JobId=1316

Much of the activity and duties fulfilled by the previous staff member are planned to recommence once a new member of staff has been recruited.

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The Chair, Councillor A Bubb read out the Tourism Department Update for January to February 2024. The Committee noted the update.

RESOLVED:  That the update be noted.

To agree the Schedule of Meetings for 2024/2025.

The Schedule of Meetings for 2024/2025 were agreed and noted.

Councillor R Kybird asked the Assistant Head of Museums for an update on the Norwich Castle Project and future of SHARE Museums East.

The Assistant Head of Museums provided an update on Norwich Castle and explained they had the first section handed back 18 months ago which was the new toilet facilities including accessible toilets and changing place. He added the next section to be handed back was the new entrance including the shop, the new café restaurant and the new school space and expected that to be handed back to them during April. The Assistant Head of Museums advised they were hoping to open the front doors of Norwich Castle again in May.

The Assistant Head of Museums provided an update on SHARE Museums East and reminded the Committee that Norfolk Museums Service (NMS) had been in receipt of additional funding from Arts Council England for many years to provide museum development support to museums across the East of England. He explained last year, Arts Council England announced that they wanted to review the structure of museum development within England as a result of which they wanted to see areas being combined so that they could deliver efficiencies. He added NMS partnered with Brighton & Hove Museums and worked together to submit a joint bid which was successful and advised from the 1^st April they would be jointly providing Museum Development South East with NMS continuing to be the lead.

Subject to the Schedule of Meetings for 2024/2025 being agreed, the next meeting of the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Area Museums Committee is scheduled to take place on 17^th June 2024 at 2.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Area Museums Committee would be held on 17^th June 2024 at 2.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, King’s Lynn.

The Chair explained to the Committee they had an invitation to visit The Moon: Meet our Nearest Neighbour Exhibition prior to the next meeting commencing at 1.00pm.