Manchester Lib Dems support £8million Urbis Football Museum boost

9.23.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 14th Oct 2009

A report to next week's Council Executive pledges up to £8million in one off capital costs to bring the national football museum to Manchester. The report also confirms the news broken by the Lib Dems in September (see below) that the current subsidy to Urbis of circa £2million per year will not be increased, and should reduce over time. It also states that the Museum will need the space currently occupied by Channel M.

Most of the £8million will come from external sources such as the Northwest Development Agency. The Manchester contribution will come from other developments around the site.

Manchester Lib Dem Leader Simon Ashley said today,

"For a long time, the Lib Dems in Manchester have criticised the subsidy to Urbis and the Channel M deal. We are happy that this subsidy will not increase. The football museum will give Urbis a sustainable future, and it has our full support."

Lib Dem Culture spokesperson John Commons added,

"This report is good news. However, it is important that we retain Channel M in the city, and I will be urging Council Officers to do all they can to make this happen."