Urgent, please sign this.
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Urgent, please sign this.
I don’t like to ask, but this is downright wrong. Please read the post.
LINK TO SIGN.
https://www.change.org/p/save-cornwa...te&utm_term=cs
https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-...viation-update
LINK TO SIGN.
https://www.change.org/p/save-cornwa...te&utm_term=cs
5 APR 2023 —
The Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre has received a devastating blow to its exciting plans to relocate to a new site. Cornwall Council insists that the museum must vacate its current premises immediately, even though the new site will not be ready for at least 12 to 18 months. This means that the museum’s plans to relocate are in tatters.
And immediately means immediately – on 4th April the Council formally advised CAHC it must clear the entire site and move thousands of valuable and vulnerable heritage exhibits by Tuesday 11/4/23 otherwise the Council’s agent will ‘make arrangements for them to be disposed of’.
The museum was sure that they had fixed the threat to their future when local land-owner and businessman Rundle Weldhen offered a new site alongside the airport and entrepreneur philanthropist Mark Lancaster (SDL Ltd/SDL Foundation) pledged £1million for the relocation project.
CAHC and Mark Lancaster were in negotiations to remain at the current premises and trade until December 2023 to raise additional funds and prepare the new site for the relocation project but, as of 24/3/23 this request was flatly refused - even though the airport and Council have not published any plans for the existing premises once they have been vacated by CAHC.
Despite publicly stating that they would support the museum if it presented a credible and deliverable proposal to relocate, Cornwall Council has insisted that CAHC vacate its current premises immediately.
The airport has agreed to allow some space on the old disused runway to temporarily store some of the historic aircraft whilst they are prepared for transport or scrapping, and the Council had scheduled a meeting for the 13th April to discuss storage options for the more vulnerable indoor aircraft and heritage exhibits, some of which need to be protected while arrangements are put in place to return them to their RAF, Navy and private owners. This meeting now appears to have been unilaterally abandoned, without any advice from the Council.
Museum founder and director Richard Spencer-Breeze said ‘Clearing the site by the 11th March, over the Easter weekend is completely impossible. We only received notification that Mark Lancaster’s proposal for CAHC to trade until December had been refused 10 days ago and we immediately started the process of clearing the museum from the site, but this deadline is ridiculous. We’ve fought for so long, but we can’t go on like this any longer. This Council seems committed to seeing this museum close forever.
We found a new site after they turned down all of our previous proposals without even discussing them, we raised £1million, we received the unequivocal support of every major education body in the County, we offered the once in a lifetime chance for Cornwall to have a unique, all-year, state-of-the-art aerospace attraction and education hub. All they had to do was let us stay where we are for another 8 to 12 months. But no, they won’t even let us relocate in realistic fashion, they would rather see this one-of-a-kind, award-winning business disappear. It’s utterly disgraceful.’
The online petition to save the Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre has attracted more than 40,000 signatures and thousands of heartfelt messages of outrage and support. WE THANK EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT.
*Please note - DO NOT donate on Change.Org. We DO NOT receive these funds. We will launch a separate funding campaign to help us relocate and protect our precious aircraft collection shortly.
Keep fighting for people power!
Politicians and rich CEOs shouldn't make all the decisions. Today we ask you to help keep Change.org free and independent. Our job as a public benefit company is to help petitions like this one fight back and get heard. If everyone who saw this chipped in monthly we'd secure Change.org's future today. Help us hold the powerful to account. Can you spare a minute to become a member today?
The Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre has received a devastating blow to its exciting plans to relocate to a new site. Cornwall Council insists that the museum must vacate its current premises immediately, even though the new site will not be ready for at least 12 to 18 months. This means that the museum’s plans to relocate are in tatters.
And immediately means immediately – on 4th April the Council formally advised CAHC it must clear the entire site and move thousands of valuable and vulnerable heritage exhibits by Tuesday 11/4/23 otherwise the Council’s agent will ‘make arrangements for them to be disposed of’.
The museum was sure that they had fixed the threat to their future when local land-owner and businessman Rundle Weldhen offered a new site alongside the airport and entrepreneur philanthropist Mark Lancaster (SDL Ltd/SDL Foundation) pledged £1million for the relocation project.
CAHC and Mark Lancaster were in negotiations to remain at the current premises and trade until December 2023 to raise additional funds and prepare the new site for the relocation project but, as of 24/3/23 this request was flatly refused - even though the airport and Council have not published any plans for the existing premises once they have been vacated by CAHC.
Despite publicly stating that they would support the museum if it presented a credible and deliverable proposal to relocate, Cornwall Council has insisted that CAHC vacate its current premises immediately.
The airport has agreed to allow some space on the old disused runway to temporarily store some of the historic aircraft whilst they are prepared for transport or scrapping, and the Council had scheduled a meeting for the 13th April to discuss storage options for the more vulnerable indoor aircraft and heritage exhibits, some of which need to be protected while arrangements are put in place to return them to their RAF, Navy and private owners. This meeting now appears to have been unilaterally abandoned, without any advice from the Council.
Museum founder and director Richard Spencer-Breeze said ‘Clearing the site by the 11th March, over the Easter weekend is completely impossible. We only received notification that Mark Lancaster’s proposal for CAHC to trade until December had been refused 10 days ago and we immediately started the process of clearing the museum from the site, but this deadline is ridiculous. We’ve fought for so long, but we can’t go on like this any longer. This Council seems committed to seeing this museum close forever.
We found a new site after they turned down all of our previous proposals without even discussing them, we raised £1million, we received the unequivocal support of every major education body in the County, we offered the once in a lifetime chance for Cornwall to have a unique, all-year, state-of-the-art aerospace attraction and education hub. All they had to do was let us stay where we are for another 8 to 12 months. But no, they won’t even let us relocate in realistic fashion, they would rather see this one-of-a-kind, award-winning business disappear. It’s utterly disgraceful.’
The online petition to save the Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre has attracted more than 40,000 signatures and thousands of heartfelt messages of outrage and support. WE THANK EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT.
*Please note - DO NOT donate on Change.Org. We DO NOT receive these funds. We will launch a separate funding campaign to help us relocate and protect our precious aircraft collection shortly.
Keep fighting for people power!
Politicians and rich CEOs shouldn't make all the decisions. Today we ask you to help keep Change.org free and independent. Our job as a public benefit company is to help petitions like this one fight back and get heard. If everyone who saw this chipped in monthly we'd secure Change.org's future today. Help us hold the powerful to account. Can you spare a minute to become a member today?
The following 12 users liked this post by NutLoose:
PPRuNe: CAHC Closure - More Ac Losses?
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Nutty
I will sign but.....
I have been following this on the beeb Cornwall site for a long time and to be fair he was told eighteen months ago that he would not get a renewal so it's not quite that much of a surprise.
wether this came about because the council saw an opportunity for the site with Virgin nearby I cannot say but on one hand he is trying to protect the history associated with the aircraft on site versus what the council saw as a purely business transaction.
I will sign but.....
I have been following this on the beeb Cornwall site for a long time and to be fair he was told eighteen months ago that he would not get a renewal so it's not quite that much of a surprise.
wether this came about because the council saw an opportunity for the site with Virgin nearby I cannot say but on one hand he is trying to protect the history associated with the aircraft on site versus what the council saw as a purely business transaction.
Last edited by cliver029; 8th Apr 2023 at 07:16. Reason: Now read the other thread
no-one pays any attention to petitions these days
If anyone is responsible for the situation CAHC is in, it is Richard Spencer-Breeze. He has consistently stuck his head in the sand, despite being told when the museum opened that he would not get a renewal beyond the six years of the lease. The Council granted him a further year, and then another six months to vacate the site, and instead of making arrangements to store the airframes he has blamed everyone else, badmouthed the Council -his landlord- and whipped up a storm of vitriole across as much social media as he can while presenting himself as the victim. During the poeriod of the six year lease he built his empire, gathering as many aircraft as possible -including those such as the VC10 and One-Eleven- and even when it came to the one year extension all he could talk about was getting a Nimrod. He has had plenty of time to find a permanent home, as well as getting the museum accredited and creating a charitable trust to run it. He has done none of those things. And now the chickens have come home to roost.
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Why the six year limit?
Why would a delay to December 23 impose an impossible burden upon the Council?
WHO is going to benefit from the eviction of the current priemises?
Should we do a follow the money exercise and determine the motive of the Council to see how many Plain Brown Envelopes are involved?
If the Council is remaining silent about why the deadline.....perhaps that alone should raise questions about its intent.
Could it be there are failures on BOTH sides of this that should be acknowledged and a final delay be allowed and this time even the public will understand the true situation?
The key issue is to find a way to preserve the collection rather than finger pointing about how the situation got to where it is.
Why is a final eight month delay crucial to the Council's unpublicized plans.....where they're Public Hearings on this where the Council detailed the purpose for the new use of the land and premises currently used by the Museum?
Why would a delay to December 23 impose an impossible burden upon the Council?
WHO is going to benefit from the eviction of the current priemises?
Should we do a follow the money exercise and determine the motive of the Council to see how many Plain Brown Envelopes are involved?
If the Council is remaining silent about why the deadline.....perhaps that alone should raise questions about its intent.
Could it be there are failures on BOTH sides of this that should be acknowledged and a final delay be allowed and this time even the public will understand the true situation?
The key issue is to find a way to preserve the collection rather than finger pointing about how the situation got to where it is.
Why is a final eight month delay crucial to the Council's unpublicized plans.....where they're Public Hearings on this where the Council detailed the purpose for the new use of the land and premises currently used by the Museum?
The following 2 users liked this post by SASless:
They're had 18 months - the Council have another tenant waiting - and they've already had a major extension. See Martin's post. No plan B, just tryingto bounce the Council into another extension.
Reading between the lines the Museum seems to have wanted "support" from the Council to help them finance a move - this was never going to happen.
"The Centre has had since October 2021 to finalise their plans to leave the site. In order to assist the centre, the Council extended their lease by a further 12 months in 2022, to the end of March 2023, for that purpose."
Reading between the lines the Museum seems to have wanted "support" from the Council to help them finance a move - this was never going to happen.
"The Centre has had since October 2021 to finalise their plans to leave the site. In order to assist the centre, the Council extended their lease by a further 12 months in 2022, to the end of March 2023, for that purpose."
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Signed and tweeted! 
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But discounting all the history, the facts are that we have an established and running museum with a large collection, surely the council understands that you cannot throw them out within a week? There were meetings planned for the 13th to discuss storing parts of the museum collection temporarily, all of a sudden they need to be out by the 11th... and this is the same council they're talking to. That's the bit that's puzzling if you ask me.
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If you look at the Councils own website you'll see they clearly said the lease was up and it wouldn't be renewed - and that was 6 months ago.
I get the impression the Council felt they are being strung along and have been for over 18 months.
I get the impression the Council felt they are being strung along and have been for over 18 months.
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The CAHC has indeed been around for some six years (a bit more actually), but don't forget that it was the Classic Air Force (run by Mike Collett) who set up the collection at Newquay, including the VC10 and One-Eleven, both of which arrived before the CAHC was even set up. CAHC was launched to save this collection and to establish a more permanent museum in Cornwall. When they took over the collection in 2015, they could only get a lease for a limited time. So yes, they were aware of the looming deadline but they have also presented a number of plans to keep the museum in Cornwall, many of which have been ignored by the council.
But discounting all the history, the facts are that we have an established and running museum with a large collection, surely the council understands that you cannot throw them out within a week? There were meetings planned for the 13th to discuss storing parts of the museum collection temporarily, all of a sudden they need to be out by the 11th... and this is the same council they're talking to. That's the bit that's puzzling if you ask me.
But discounting all the history, the facts are that we have an established and running museum with a large collection, surely the council understands that you cannot throw them out within a week? There were meetings planned for the 13th to discuss storing parts of the museum collection temporarily, all of a sudden they need to be out by the 11th... and this is the same council they're talking to. That's the bit that's puzzling if you ask me.
It is not an accredited museum, it is not a Trust, it is not a registered charity. It is structured as a profit-making commercial venture and the council have treated it as such. They have been transparent with their dealings with the Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre, making it clear that the lease would not be renewed, and even granting an extension. A shame for the airframes that will not survive, but the Centre’s owners have only themselves to blame I’m afraid.
The following 2 users liked this post by Mike51:
I do recall last year that CAHC had their marching orders then, however, there was a plot of land nearby, just over the road for them to tow their wears to. The reason given was to make room for the Virgin Space Port expansion. To say the least, that's had a sever knock on the head, therefore, what do Restormel Council plan to do now? Is the Space Port still on? By the by, does anyone else know the story behind the VC-10 and its trip from Delhi some years back!?!?!?!?
FB
FB
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The thing is, the Council as a public body and one that is elected by consent needs to be the adult in all of this. To me, they could have dealt with this far better in so many ways Martin the Martian. I know that social media and public opinion has been used against them, but really the Council’s unreasonable behaviour in the first place has brought this upon themselves as I am sure that CAHC wanted to deal with this in an adult and transparent manner. What is needed now is that grown up discussion of - look CAHC there is no chance of you staying, what are your plans and when do you expect to move on. If CAHC cannot offer a reasonable answer to that then they need to give reasonable notice, not just a matter of weeks. Acting like a “bully boy” authority, like they do for other Kernow matters, does them no favours whatsoever and they need to be totally transparent as a public body with their communications with CAHC to win over the very many in the County that believe that CAHC have been badly treated - “they work for you” - ring any bells? Not in Kernow County it doesn’t!
True, and indeed I know that. But the council has stated on various occasions that they would support a move, and now that there is a location and the funds to move there, the council pulls this stunt. CAHC got a lead on this new location in December, they've been working on the funds since then. It's not as if they have done nothing but it took time to get to this stage and they need a bit more time to actually move everything. Surely that's not an unreasonable request?
Is Kernow Council coming up for election in May??