Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is planning to deliver a new landmark Museum located within the prime Southend-on-Sea seafront.

The project is to create a major visitor destination within the town which will include the permanent display of the best elements of the collections of the Central Museum and Beecroft Art Gallery in a new, high quality, iconic building, to support a comprehensive multimedia story of the people of Southend, the Thames Estuary and the south east Essex region.

The new venue is to be an all-year attraction capable of being a major visitor destination in its own right, appealing equally to local people and visitors to Southend.

The offer is to be wide-ranging in terms of its interpretations and display of the collections, particularly those associated with the Prittlewell finds and more recent marine archeology in the Thames, in particular HMS London.

These developments since 2009 mean that the museum can be a major regional, sub-national attraction.

Planning permission for the development has been granted, and is currently at RIBA Stage D.

Works relating to the foundations of the building have been completed.

The task now is to put in place the capital funding required to deliver the new landmark building.

The public financial situation has changed considerably over the past five years.

The Government has been making substantial reductions in public spending especially that awarded to Local Authorities.

This situation looks set to continue for some time to come.

Subsequently, it is likely that funding for this project will come from a variety of sources; some of which may be innovative and not from traditional routes.

We are now looking at how we put this funding package together.

We welcome your views and input as we interpret our ideas into effective fundraising strategy for this project.