In March 2011 Aberdeenshire Council decided that they could no longer afford to run the museum situated in Stonehaven's Tolbooth building; accordingly it was closed. A group of local volunteers disagreed with this decision and re-opened the museum in May of the same year as a community effort. Over the last 13 years the museum has gone from strength strength and is now one of the main tourist attractions in Stonehaven. Unfortunately the Council has always been a little hesitant about the museum and has only permitted the attraction to operate under a rolloing 12 month licence. Obviously Stonehaven Tolbooth Association(STA) has had concerns over its long term future and submitted a Community Asset Transfer (CAT) request. The process started a few years ago and involved the Association taking ownership of the whole building. In April this year the CAT was discussed at the monthly K&M Area meeting and the Councillors unanimously voted to transfer the whole building to STA for £1. Unfortunately this went against the wishes of council officials who only wanted to transfer the groundfloor. Because of the divergent opinions the CAT request had to go to the Business Services committee and this week the latter voted to support the view of the council officials.

The outcome of the protracted negotiations is that STA will be offered the opportunity to purchase the groundfloor and the courtyards for £1. Although this decision may create problems in the future over the costs of repairs and maintenance - there will be two landlords involved - it does mean that the museum will have a permanent home.

There will no immediate discernible changes in the operation of the museum and, hopefully, over time we will be able to repair the fabric of the groundfloor and courtyards which have been sadly neglected for a couple of decades.

In the meantime please continue to visit the museum and show your support for all the efforts that the volunteers have made over the past 13 years.