Enfield Council has announced the results of its consultation regarding the future of the Museum and Local Studies Library.

Happily, the proposal to close the museum's ground floor exhibition space at the Dugdale Centre has been scrapped, but most of the other proposals appear to be going ahead largely unchanged. While "drop in" access to the library will continue, consultation with the library staff will become by appointment only. Plans to digitise the archives will apparently go ahead, though details of these plans remain exteremely vague.

Most worryingly, there remains no word on staffing and budget cuts to either service, which will have a profound impact particularly on how the museum is able to operate. The reduction of staff to one junior post and no operating budget will likely prevent the museum from staging any more of its successful and popular exhibitions, or any of its other public outreach activities.

We have offered the museum our support in maintaining a permanent display in the ground floor space of the Dugdale Centre, which will hopefully continue to showcase the history and cultural heritage of the London Borough of Enfield. It is sad that a council that so often pays lip service to our unique heritage assets should be so reluctant to invest in their presentation and curation.

More details and news on the cuts are available from The Enfield Society