Hopes for the restoration of Gunnersbury Stables have been dashed after a funding bid was rejected and the project lost its champion within Hounslow Council.
The Thomas Layton Collection committee heard that plans to restore the 19th-century stables and create a collections hub
have stalled. The hub was envisioned as a new home for museum collections currently stored off-site, the local studies libraries of both Ealing and Hounslow, and the Thomas Layton book collection.
Howard Simmons provided the update, explaining that Hounslow Council's formal Expression of Interest to the National Lottery Heritage Fund was rejected. Further hindering the project, the new Trust Chairman has declined requests to revive the scheme, deeming it not a priority for the Trust. The deletion of the relevant Hounslow Council post following the post-holder's retirement means that there is now no advocate for the Stables within Hounslow Council.
The museum collections, intended for the collections hub, were moved to Stockroom London on 31 October and are now stored in a climate-controlled environment. The books of the Thomas Layton Collection have since resided on shelving in reference number order in the same location.
While a project team had developed plans for restoring the Gunnersbury Stables to create the 'collections hub,' providing a new home for the museum collections, the local studies libraries, and the Layton book collection, no alternative long-term plan has been announced following the failed funding bid.