Councillors in Walsall will decide whether to disclose financial information and private documents relating to the controversial Leather Museum plans at the next public meeting.
Notice of Motion Submitted
Leader of the authority, Councillor Elaine Williams, and deputy leader, Councillor Nicky Barker have submitted a Notice of Motion (NOM) calling for the publication of full costs for the plans, the lease with Walsall College, as well as a £47,500 feasibility study. It also calls for the costs of reversing the Conservative administration’s decision to relocate the museum to be published within 21 days of being known.
Reform UK's Election Vows
The leader and deputy of Walsall Community Independent group, Councillor Aftab Nawaz and Khizar Hussain, have also submitted a Notice of Motion calling for the cabinet to reconsider the relocation plans, especially given the vows made during Reform’s election campaign. Reform defiantly stated it would do ‘everything in its power’ to return the Walsall Leather Museum to its historic location at Littleton Street West ahead of the elections last month. The group had huge success in the polls and now holds a 39 seat majority at Walsall Council.
Previous Administration's Actions
Lead museum campaigner Linda Boys accused the previous Conservative administration of having an ‘obsession’ with closing the attraction before they were wiped out in the elections. The nine-member cabinet approved plans to move the museum’s contents to a mystery town centre location in September 2025. The council later announced it purchased 1-3 The Bridge for £725,000 to become a ‘new and improved’ Walsall Museum. Also approved at the September meeting was a 125-year lease to Walsall College to move its SEND offering, currently at Hawbush Road, into the museum. The renovation of the Grade II Listed building was expected to cost around £2.5million of taxpayers’ money, and the lease was signed just two days before the elections. Conservative leaders at the time profusely defended the plans and said that the cabinet had the power to make such decisions.
Council's Clarification
Walsall Council has now said that the decision to relocate the museum was agreed by full council at the budget setting meeting in February 2025, and cabinet were simply implementing that decision at their meeting in September. At the meeting in February 2025, councillors approved to defer the saving of £190,000 per year from 2025/26 to the 2026/27 financial year. But the relocation plans were not mentioned once in the budget proposals for this year, and leader at the time, Mike Bird, said in October 2025 that the plans did not ‘form part of any budget savings’.
New Leadership's Actions
Reform’s new leader, Councillor Elaine Williams, ordered a halt to any further action in the days after being elected. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service she said the new building at 1-3 The Bridge isn’t the right place for the Leather Museum. She added: “I’m investigating various aspects of that at this present time. I’m digging deep. The lease is dated two days before the election. To reverse that decision, there might be some costs attached to it, so we want to make sure the residents are fully aware of what’s happened and what would need to be done to reverse that decision. There’s a lot of work going on in the background. We can’t just reverse a cabinet decision, we have to go through due process. But everything has been paused while we look into things.”
Campaigner's Question
Leather Museum campaigner, Lauren Broxton, has also submitted a question for next week’s meeting. She asks for the matter to be debated by full council given the ‘arguable constitutional concerns’ during the decision making process.
The meeting is set to take place at 6pm, Monday, June 22 at Walsall Council House.
