Councillors to decide future running of Broughty Castle Museum

Members of the city governance committee will examine the results of a major consultation on the future delivery of three leisure and cultural services.

Councillors will hear that Mills Observatory in Dundee could remain open after additional funding was secured by Leisure and Culture Dundee (LACD), which could stop delivering services at both the castle and Caird Park Golf Courses.

Mark Flynn, committee convener, said: “The decision to stop delivering any services in the city is not something that is done lightly, and all reasonable suggestions have been explored, but these recommendations show just how challenging the financial position is as work goes into balancing the books for the next financial year.

“As part of the consultation process, external funding has been identified for the observatory, and I would encourage people across the city to make good use of it during these darker winter nights.”

The consultation was launched earlier this year after LACD proposed ending services at the observatory, the golf courses and castle, in the face of a significant budget gap.

For the next three to five years, £95,000 in funding for the observatory will come from a mix of private money and trusts.

In addition, councillors will be asked to agree up to £15,000 a year, to be reviewed in three years, as part of the package to keep services running.

If the report is approved on Monday (December 2) Broughty Castle Museum will close by the end of next October, and Caird Park Golf Courses by the end of April. These moves would save LACD more than £400,000 per year.

The report reveals that visitor numbers at Broughty Castle Museum in 2023/24 were 39,223, down from 43,149 in 2019/20.

Ending services at the castle is projected to save LACD £80,000 a year, while returning the building to owner Historic Environment Scotland, would save the council £30,000 a year in property costs.