TWO of Yorks most popular tourist attractions have become the latest casualty of Government spending cuts.
The National Railway Museum had hoped to secure a £5 million grant from Yorkshire Forward for its £21 million revamp of its great hall, while York Minster had been expecting a £1 million grant to improve visitor facilities.
But the regional development agency has now been forced to withdraw this offer due to financial restrictions.
York MP Hugh Bayley has reacted with anger to the news and has set up a meeting with culture secretary Ed Vaizey to discuss the issue.
He said: If the Government doesnt want Yorkshire Forward to invest in projects like these, they need to set up alternative ways to support our heritage. When it opened in the 1970s the National Railway Museum was a fantastic modern innovation but the Great Hall has remained unchanged and it now lags behind other museums.
The number of visitors is declining and its important to reverse that trend.
As the only national museum outside London, not in a regeneration area, there are very few sources of funding available and to raise a further £5 million would be a very difficult if not impossible task.
However, a spokeswoman for the museum said it was confident the loss of funding would not have an impact on the project, as they were in discussions with a number of potential donors and were also hoping for money from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
John Morris, chapter steward at York Minster, said Yorkshire Forwards £1 million grant would have gone towards the York Minster Revealed project, for which the primary aim was to restore the Great East Window to its former glory.
Other elements of the project include a stylish new piazza entrance way into the South Transept, improving disabled access and installing vastly improved toilet facilities.
He said: We are in the fortunate position of having an alternative source of funding for this project, which will mitigate the effect somewhat, but nonetheless, this is a disappointing result for us as £1 million is a sizeable amount of money.
Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of Visit York, said: We are concerned that these projects go ahead. York Minster and the National Railway Museum are two of our most popular visitor attractions and play an important role in drawing seven million visitors to York annually who spend £443 million. We understand alternative sources of funding are currently being investigated and we are liaising closely with those involved to seek a solution.
