Work on Narberth's new museum at the Bonded Stores in Church Street is continuing to make progress.

Work on the building began with the replacement of the old roof.

This was desperately needed as the fabric of the building was starting to deteriorate.

With the help of grants from Cadw and Pembrokeshire County Council, as well as money from the Trust's own funds, a new slate roof featuring rooflights on the back roof is now in place and has made an enormous difference to conditions inside the building.

Speaking at Tuesday night's meeting of the town council, museum curator, Mrs. Pauline Griffiths, explained that in August 2008, a project organiser, Geraldine Delaney, was appointed to help put together the grant applications to do the rest of the work.

Said Mrs. Griffiths: "As a result, a stage one application was made to the Heritage Lottery Fund last November. We learned in March this year that we had been awarded £75,100 to develop the project.

"This has meant that we have been able to appoint all the professionals we need, architects, surveyors, designers and other consultants to advise us on how the building and the collection should be restored and maintained and how we can be sustainable once the new museum is open."

Mrs. Griffiths continued: "We have also been asking members of the community to comment on what they want to see in the new museum.

"One opportunity we had was at the Dyfed Family History Society open day and another excellent event was the food festival where we got 90 people to fill in questionnaires and give their views."

"The museum now plans to submit our stage two application to the Heritage Lottery Fund shortly.

"They have agreed in principle to give us just under half the £1.2 million the project is going to cost, but we will need to match this with money from other sources," explained Mrs. Griffiths.

"If successful, it is hoped to start the remainder of the building work next year, with a view to re-opening in 2011.

"We realise that opening a new museum in Church Street is an exciting prospect for us and for the community," added Mrs. Griffiths.

"I know it will bring benefits to the local economy and raise the profile of this already vibrant town even higher. But there will be challenges. We know that good signage will be essential to the success of the museum in that location and we would be looking to the town council for support when we start lobbying to get these signs.

"We know, too, that parking is going to be a concern for us and our new neighbours. We have begun to think of strategies to address the parking problem. Visitors with disabilities and school parties will need special arrangements, but most of our visitors will be encouraged to walk from the main car parks to the building."

Mrs. Griffiths concluded: "Many of the issues facing us as we really start to imagine the reality of opening the new Narberth Museum will only be possible with the support of the community.

"This is why we are so grateful for the help the Narberth Town Council has given us over the years, even when the possibility of success seemed so remote. Now that it looks as though it really is going to happen, we need you more than ever!"

After her presentation, Mrs. Griffiths was thanked and congratulated by Clr. Mrs. Val Bradley.

Mayor of Narberth, Clr. Mrs. Ruth Platt, also praised Mrs. Griffiths and the work being done and thanked her for her report.