Agenda and draft minutes

RESOLVED: Councillor Rose who was a substitute for Councillor Kemp was appointed as Vice Chair for the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Borough Councillor Kemp, Councillors Kybird and Ward, Norfolk Joint Museums Committee and Lindsey Bavin, Manager of True’s Yard Museum.

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

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 16 June 2025 were agreed as a correct record.

To consider any matters arising.

The Chair, Councillor Bubb queried the Committee’s membership and the Democratic Services Officer clarified that Councillor Kemp was a Borough Councillor representative for the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Area Museums Committee but was appointed Vice Chair of the Committee due to the absence of Norfolk County Council nominees at the last meeting held on 16^th June 2025.

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 welcomed Hannah Jackson back as Operations Manager for the Norfolk Museums Service (Western area), overseeing Gressenhall, King’s Lynn and Thetford after a secondment to the Norwich Castle redevelopment project.

The Curator of the Lynn Museum introduced the report on the King’s Lynn Museum activities in the period from June to July 2025.  A copy of the report is attached to the minutes.

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

1)    Exhibitions and events at Lynn Museum

1.1    Current Exhibition May the Toys Be with You

1.2    Previous Exhibition Woof: A Celebration of Dogs

1.3    Forthcoming Exhibition: “Unboxed: Discovering Lynn’s Collections” (working title)

1.4    Family events

1.5    Family Trails

1.6    Mini Museum

1.7    Coffee Mornings

The Curator of the Lynn Museum invited questions from the Committee in relation to those areas of the report, as summarised below.

County Councillor Bambridge suggested involving Sixth Form students from King Edward VII School to assist with cataloguing.  The Curator of the Lynn Museum commented that they had taken on two work experience students from the College of West Anglia and confirmed he would raise this with Jan Summerfield who was working on a new programme of volunteering.

Councillor de Whalley asked about challenges in completing the remaining 13,500 records and the Curator of the Lynn Museum explained there was some data cleaning needed and added there were challenges because of missing or disposed items, gaps in historical records and duplication in the museum catalogue system.

The Chair, Councillor Bubb suggested that a leaflet on the history of the Lynn Museum building would be useful.  The Curator of the Lynn Museum explained there was a Henry Baines oil painting of the former Chapel in the Lynn Museum.  He added there was also an introductory panel in the reception area and audio guides had been updated.  The Curator of the Lynn Museum suggested they could have someone provide a talk as part of the Talks Programme.

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

2)    Newman Legacy project

3)    Other Museums developments

3.1 Publicity and promotion

3.2 NMS Teaching Museum Trainees

3.3 Retail offer at Lynn Museum

3.4 Object Photography

3.5 Volunteers

3.7 Finds Identification and Recording Day

The Curator of the Lynn Museum invited questions from the Committee in relation to those areas of the report, as summarised below.

The Chair, Councillor Bubb asked about sales and the Curator of the Lynn Museum reported they were doing very well, with Star Wars themed material being particularly popular.

Councillor de Whalley congratulated officers for their work on improving the sales.  Councillor de Whalley raised a question around publicity feedback and the Curator of the Lynn Museum suggested they would review marketing efforts and provide an update at the next meeting of the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Area Museums Committee.

The Chair, Councillor Bubb asked how visitors were informed about  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

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County Councillor Bambridge referred to the upcoming exhibition in commemoration of the 150^th anniversary of the Great Gale of 1875 and commented that they had requested the loan of a model and thanked Robin Hanley and Oliver Bone for the loan.

RESOLVED: The Committee noted the report.

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The visitor figures for the period June to August 2025 were noted.  A copy of the visitor figures is attached to the minutes.

The Chair, Councillor Bubb referred to the pontoon enquiries and asked whether they turned into bookings.  The Democratic Services Officer confirmed she would get further information around the pontoon enquiries and circulate a response to the Committee after the meeting.

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The Chair, Councillor Bubb commented that he had raised a question at a recent Borough Council Briefing Session around how they were thinking of funding County wide organisations such as libraries and museums and explained he did not get a clear answer and asked Committee Members if they had received any information.

County Councillor Horsbrugh commented that the Norfolk Records Committee had voted that it stay as one and not divide.

Councillor de Whalley commented that they should know the decision in March 2026.

The Assistant Head of Museums highlighted that in the last set of draft minutes from the Norfolk Joint Museums Committee meeting held on 25^th July 2025, discussions took place around Local Government Reorganisation and that there was a preference stated that the Museums Service for Norfolk continues as a single entity.

Councillor Lintern commented that her understanding was that the service would remain the same.

Councillor de Whalley proposed that the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Area Museums Committee endorse the recommendations which were put forward at the Norfolk Joint Museums Committee on 25^th July 2025 for the service to remain as a joint partnership across Norfolk. This proposal was seconded by Councillor Rose and the Committee unanimously agreed.

To consider any additional items for the next Agenda.

The following item was identified to include on the next Agenda:

·         Review on marketing plans

The next meeting of the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Area Museums Committee is scheduled to take place on 12^th January 2026 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 was scheduled to take place on 12^th January 2026 at 2.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.