Volunteers at a beleaguered transport museum in Birmingham have launched a fight to save it. Neil Elkes reports

Standing inside a dusty tram depot near to Aston Villa FC it is easy to imagine it in its heyday, when the trams were rolling in and out of its four tall doors.

The fascinating collection of buses, spans more than 60 years of transport history, with many of the vehicles still roadworthy and creating a backdrop against which you can also picture scores of engineers, drivers and ticket collectors at one time going about their business.

Sadly, the tram doors at Aston Manor Transport Museum are now firmly shut and the buses could soon drive out for the final time unless a £500,000 campaign to buy the Victorian tram shed from Birmingham City Council is successful.

Its future is in such peril that a list of this year’s events is headed “subject to museum staying open”.

The Witton Lane attraction, which opened in 1992, attracts more than 10,000 visitors last year.

It is home to 30 trams, buses, cars, lorries and fire engines dating as far back as 1906.

On weekends and bank holidays throughout the year its historic buses, including a bright-red double-decker London bus, also take visitors on tours of the city, though it cannot charge extra for the rides as it does not have a bus operator’s licence.

There is also a tram under restoration, with the ultimate aim of running the old 3X service out through the Victorian building’s tram shed doors one day.

Its line of historic buses all have regional links, even the London bus was used by Birmingham’s social services department for a while.

Alongside the large displays are signs, bus and tram stops and even smaller items, including a tram guard’s memories of working around Birmingham, alongside his whistle, badge and photographs.

Aston Manor is also well-known to football fans as its car park is used by away supporters’ coaches on Villa match days for which the museum receives a modest income.

But the city council has said it can no longer afford for the museum to stay at the site rent free, even though it has covered all other costs, including keeping the vast building well maintained.

Instead the local authority is demanding either £43,000 a year in rent – money the museum does not have – or that the volunteers buy it outright.

Surveyors for the museum valued the building at £335,000, but the council claims it is worth considerably more, even though with its Grade II-listed frontage, there is only limited potential for redevelopment.

Museum chairman Geoff Lusher and the board of directors now face a major challenge meeting the target.

Mr Lusher, now retired, was for many years a general manager for Travel West Midlands and was responsible for developing and running the Midland Metro during its early years. He believes that the board can run a successful museum given the chance.

A business plan has been developed and is being circulated to transport and heritage trusts, including the Heritage Lottery Fund, major transport firms, potential sponsors and transport enthusiasts.

Mr Lusher said: “This has been developing for a while, we have had two years of meetings looking for a way forward and the only alternative to closure is to raise the money and buy the building.”

While the subsidised lease has freed the museum from the need to find the rent, it has also hampered it from making improvements. It is a six month lease.

We cannot secure funding from outside groups, the Heritage Lottery Fund for example, unless we have a longer lease, 99 years at least. So purchase is the only option.

“We would hopefully be able to secure additional funds to improve the facilities for visitors, better toilets and a cafe, education facilities for school children and take on restoration projects, this is a make or break campaign for the museum.”

Passers-by in Witton Lane cannot help but notice a rusting barge outside the shed, this is currently being restored by pupils from Small Heath under one such project.

Next month is crucial for the campaign, with a special launch event for visitors on Sunday, March 13. A few days later the directors have a crunch meeting with Cabinet member for Finance Coun Randal Brew to negotiate the purchase price.

The Government’s Localism bill, currently working its way through Parliament, includes a community asset transfer provision to help voluntary groups and charities take on council and Government buildings.

But according to the Community Matters campaign group, a number of councils have accelerated plans to sell off buildings to the private sector to help them through the spending cuts.

The organisation, which represents neighbourhood groups, said it understands that the 5,000 community assets in England will be sold by councils between May and December this year.

Website: www.amrtm.org