Have your say on future plans for Suffolk's
heritage services
From 21st November 2011 people were asked to comment on the
County Council's proposal to deliver Suffolk's heritage services in
partnership with the Museum of East Anglian Life (MEAL). All
consultation information is still available at
www.suffolk.gov.uk/HeritageConsultation
The consultation period lasted until 31st January 2012. All
responses received during the consultation period will be analysed
and the results used to inform the full business case, which will
be presented to Suffolk County County's Cabinet and MEAL's Board of
Directors in spring 2012.
Plans for Suffolk’s Heritage discussed by
Cabinet
The future of heritage services in Suffolk were discussed by
Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet when it met on Tuesday 8
November. The Cabinet and the Museum of East Anglian Life's
Board gave approval to develop a full business case. The
proposal relates to the development of a new organisation with The
Museum of East Anglian Life (MEAL) which would run the archaeology
and archive services currently provided by the council. The
cabinet paper and the outline
business case show larger heritage services can respond more
effectively to challenges and opportunities. Working with MEAL will
bring together collections, facilities and staff expertise to
create a bigger, more integrated and sustainable organisation. The
new organisation would work in partnership, not competition, with
other Suffolk organisations to make Suffolk’s rich heritage more
accessible.
New organisation for 21st Century Suffolk
Heritage
Presentation given at stakeholder engagement workshops (PDF,
286Kb)
During the course of September three stakeholder workshops took
place in Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Lowestoft to inform the
outline business case for a potential new heritage organisation for
Suffolk. The workshops were designed to engage active and informed
stakeholders in contributing and developing ideas with experts from
the Archaeology and Archives services.
Individuals were invited because of
their interest in archives and archaeology and their links to
organisations that use the services. Stakeholders numbering 179
were invited to contribute to the vision and join the engagement
sessions, 62 people attended the sessions. It was evident people
care passionately about record office and archaeology services. The
discussions focused on:-
• Access
• 'Suffolkness' and localism
• Volunteer and community involvement
• Accountability, governance and SCC
responsibilities
• Funding
• Professional expertise and knowledge
• Excellence, standards and increased
profile
Outcomes from the session have contributed to the development of
the proposal. The following stakeholder comments and observations
provide a snap-shot of what is important to them for the
future:
• "A county that does not look after its history
and culture will be poorer in intellectual ability"
• "Heritage as a wasting and fragile asset must
be catered for by a robust and permanent body"
• "Heritage needs a stable financial future to
keep providing these services"
• "Heritage is too narrowly delivered as the
past"
• "Becoming a regional centre of
excellence"
• "Access free of charge"
• "Digitisation is important – Norfolk has its
parish records online"
• "Joined up services where archaeological and
documentary evidence can be researched in one
place".