JohnNorth

RE: James Barber's comments about the Livesey Museum. It's interesting he still chooses to spout this nonsense about the closure of the Livesey Museum. As was well documented, Nick Stanton privately stated at the time that the museum was closed to auction off the building for an expected 1 million. When it was pointed out that the council had no right to sell the building, Stanton was forced to back track and apologise for the closure. The Theatre Peckham deal was then cooked up as a face saver. It is not clear whether it will ever happen. Only the recent 'ethical occupation' of the building forced the council into doing anything to stop it being left to rot. As he will also remember, the museum's visitor figures were falsified to give the impression the museum was under-used. Stupid really as the correct figures were in the public domain and the lies were easy to refute. Still, Libdem & Tory Councillors such as James Barber engaged in an ugly smear campaign against the museum and its staff, and I have no doubt this behaviour has now contributed to Southwark voters' decision to get rid of them. "Don't know who told you the Livesey Children's museum was closed to fund East Dulwich projects. Nonsense. It was closed because budget cuts had to be made and officers assured us relatively few Southwark residents visited it compared to the revenue cost. It was also not open the whole year. It is now being transferred to Peckham Theatre a children's theatre which with the much larger space than they currently have can work with many more children than ever before. They also undertake their work year round."