Cefn Coed Colliery Museum to remain open

Neath Port Talbot Council will work alongside partners to safeguard the future of Cefn Coed Colliery Museum.

Under new plans announced yesterday (27th January) the museum will remain open, with positive discussions underway between the Council and local voluntary group Friends of Cefn Coed Museum on how to best achieve efficiency savings.

As a non-statutory function, the withdrawal of the museum’s subsidy had been amongst the draft budget saving proposals which the Council was consulting on to achieve projected budget savings of £18m for 2016/17.

However due to the better than expected provisional Local Government settlement announced on 9th December 2015, the Council’s budget shortfall is around £11m for 2016/17, allowing an extended period of dialogue between the authority and the friends group to ensure the popular attraction remains sustainable.

The public consultation on the Council’s budget proposals closed on 3rd January, and many of the responses received concerned the museum and its educational, tourism and heritage value.

The Council will continue to work alongside the Friends of the Museum group to enable a £10k reduction in subsidy in 2017/18, and discussions are ongoing with the Welsh Government regarding other funding opportunities.

Leader of Neath Port Talbot Council Cllr Ali Thomas said: “The Council will not be requiring savings at Cefn Coed Museum in the next financial year and is very encouraged by the positive response from the community to securing its future. The museum is the cornerstone of our national industrial heritage telling the story of coalmining in the Dulais Valley and beyond. Through the involvement of local members and our officers we are committed to working with the Friends Group and others to develop a partnership approach to secure the long term future of this important facility”.