Minutes:
Ms Jemma Johnson-Davey, LBB Museum Development Manager (Biggin Hill Memorial Museum Project) gave a presentation on plans for the new Biggin Hill Memorial Museum.
The Biggin Hill Memorial Museum project had just received a successful outcome from an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for nearly £2m, which had unlocked the final funding needed to start building. Planning permission had been granted for the project in April 2107 and building works were due to start at the end of September 2017, with the museum opening in November 2018.
An image of Sir Winston Churchill visiting Biggin Hill airfield in 1941 was displayed, highlighting why Biggin Hill was so internationally important. The aerodrome was one of the oldest in Britain, and would celebrate its centenary during 2017. It had been active during both the First and Second World War’s, and had played a major role in the Battle of Britain.
The Biggin Hill Memorial Museum project had started in 2014 following the RAF withdrawing funding to maintain the site. The Government had then asked that Bromley Council lead on developing a project to safeguard the future of the Chapel site. Following this, the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum Trust was established and consisted of eight trustees. A good connection with Chartwell continued to be maintained, and Sir Winston Churchill’s great grandson, Randolph Churchill was Patron of the Trust.
The site of the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum is on Main Road, Biggin Hill with the entrance identified by the Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft ‘gate guardians’. These were initially original aircrafts, but had since been replaced by fibreglass models. The museum was situated on the very edge of London Biggin Hill Airport, and it was felt to be important to have a relationship with the airport and its related industries. One of the trustees was Colin Hitchins, Community Engagement Manager, London Biggin Hill Airport with whom they continued to work closely to utilise mutually beneficial opportunities such as the annual Festival of Flight.
The Biggin Hill Memorial Museum was expected to bring increased tourism and visitor economy to Biggin Hill and the London Borough of Bromley. Work was being undertaken to link up with local heritage attractions, such as Downe House, Chartwell and Bromley Historic Collections. The Chapel currently attracted around 12,000 visitors a year and conservative estimates expected this to increase to 25,000 visitors once the new museum was opened. This was due to its strong international appeal as well as more local visitors expected from the borough and those travelling in from Kent and London. The schools offer was also very important as they were one of the museums main target audiences.
The new plans would see the Chapel restored to its original design and introduce a single storey museum building, which would wrap around it and bring the landscape back to its original intention. To aide sustainability, there would be a retail and commercial offer on-site including a café and shop and spaces for hire for corporate, learning and community events. It was hoped that it could be used as a place for people to gather and spend money. There would be new jobs created, four contracted museum posts and casual staff working in the café and providing support for the museum. The income and expenditure for the projected was balanced, but further fundraising was still taking place to install a dedicated education and learning wing.
The trustees of the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum had a shared passion and understanding of what the museum was about, which was made clear through their vision, ‘Biggin Hill; inspiring generations, Remembering the Few and honouring the Many’. Their mission was ‘Gathering, protecting and making known the stories of Biggin Hill and communicating its significant role in shaping the modern world’. It planned to honour the fighter pilots, and also those who were sometimes forgotten such as the pub landladies and children from the local community. This would provide a different offer to most military museums. A thematic plan showed the various exhibition zones in the museum, starting 100 years ago and highlighting how important developments in technology still affected aviation technology currently. As well as an area focusing on Biggin Hill and its people, there would be areas highlighting RAF station life and community life. The final exhibition would be in the St George’s Room, which connected the museum to the main Chapel building.
Since the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum project began in mid-2015, around 2,000 members of the local community and beyond had been consulted through online surveys, questionnaires, discussion groups and open days. The open days in particular had allowed them to speak to members of the local community, which had generated new stories of their experiences. The consultation process had also been extremely important in forging relationships with community stakeholders, including the ATC Cadets Squadron, Biggin Hill Residents Association and local businesses.
The brief for the visual identity and branding of the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum had requested that it be contemporary, but sympathetic to the era of the Chapel. The colour scheme chosen included grey, teal, burnt orange and ochre which would be used across the advertising and merchandising of the museum.
Ms Terri Johnson, South East London Chamber of Commerce said that they were always looking for new venues to hold events, and asked if it would be possible to do so in the museum. Ms Johnson-Davey said that they were keen to host events as it would enable them to show off the museums spaces for tours and gatherings. One of the posts being created at the museum was a Commercial and Operations Officer, whose role would be to encourage that to happen.
Members enquired if travel plans and parking assessments had been carried out. Ms Johnson-Davey responded that a Travel Impact Assessment Consultant had produced a report and based his findings on the busiest day during the summer. The museum currently had 24 parking spaces, and if the visitors to the museum behaved as predicted, 27 would be required. The increase in spaces had been included in the architect’s plans, but if they found that these were not enough, there were grassy banks within the car park that could be removed to allocate more parking bays. There was also a layby on Main Road that provided a space for coaches to park.
Mr Colin Maclean asked if volunteers for the museum had already been sourced, and offered the services of Community Links Bromley to assist with any further recruitment. Ms Johnson-Davey said that they currently had 20 volunteers on their books that were doing ‘bits and pieces’ to keep their enthusiasm up until the museum opened. It was expected that they would need around 80 volunteers on their books, with 60-70% of them being active. Members enquired if a Just Giving site would be set up to allow visitors to donate to the museum at payment points. It was considered that a lot of people visiting may have some sort of connection to the museum and would be willing to make further donations. Ms Johnson-Davey agreed and said that they intended to launch a legacy campaign. Members also asked if a link to the Heritage Hangar had been explored. Mr Hitchins said that they were currently developing a relationship. The Heritage Hangar tours were very popular and the owners could see the benefits of working with the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum.
Ms Johnson-Davey advised members of the Partnership that she could be could be contacted at jemma.johnson-davey@bromley.gov.uk with any specific queries regarding the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum project.
The Chairman thanked Ms Johnson-Davey for her interesting presentation.