Campaigners win permission for judicial review over museum closure plans

Campaigners have won permission for a judicial review over a county council’s decision to close a museum.

The legal action against Leicestershire County Council is being brought by a volunteer at the Snibston Discovery Museum in Coalville.

The Cabinet at Leicestershire decided on 14 January to shut the museum in its current form, as part of efforts to deliver overall savings running into the tens of millions of pounds by 2018.

The local authority has strongly defended its decision-making in relation to the museum, maintaining that “proper processes were followed”.

The Friends of Snibston group last week (20 May) tweeted that an application for permission to seek a judicial review had been successful.

Brian Vollar, chair of the group, told the BBC that a number of charitable trusts had been "rebuffed" in their attempts to take over the running of the museum.

He said: "It's clear that the county council are digging their heels in and are not willing to reconsider the future, unless they are required to by higher authority and that's what we hope will happen here."

Leicestershire told the BBC in a statement that it had been granted an application to expedite the judicial review "to end uncertainty" for the public and the centre's staff.

A hearing is expected to take place before the proposed closure date for the museum of 31 July.