THE trustees of the Usk Rural Life Museum are hoping to purchase their building from the local authority to safeguard the future of the historical attraction.

Currently the museum in New Market Street is housed in the old malt barn and houses a collection of over 5,000 artefacts, which reflect the agricultural, social and economic rural history of Usk and Monmouthshire.

The trust currently holds a 48-year lease on the building, which was issued in 2002.

With 37 years remaining and no clauses for rent reviews in the lease, the trustees approached Monmouthshire County Council with a view to purchasing the museum, along with an adjoining small area of the Maryport Street car park, so that it could be modernised and put the trust in a more favourable position to attract grant funding.

Since the trustees were originally granted their lease on the building, the museum has benefitted from a number of significant improvements, including the restoration of the interior of an existing barn, construction of two others barns, together with an additional barn and community room.

Councillors at this week's cabinet meeting will be told that when the lease expires in 2050 the museum trustees would have the automatic right to renew the lease and the authority would have very limited grounds for objection.

Scott Ramsay, from Monmouthshire County Council's estates department said, "The trustees behind the Usk Rural Life Museum wish to obtain the freehold interest in the property to enable them to carry out additional development and to modernise the existing facilities."

The officer recommended that the site should be sold and suggested that there should be a condition placed on the transaction that restricts the building from being used for anything other than for a museum.

The museum is currently run by a team of local volunteers, who have donated more than 5,000 volunteer hours a year between them to ensure the museum remains a success.

If Monmouthshire County Council agrees to the sale of the barn the trustees are hopeful of obtaining accreditation from the Arts Council and making additional improvements to the site, which includes building a new visitor centre after the scheme recently achieved planning consent.

The purchase of land adjacent to the car park will enable the museum trustees to construct a new entrance, for which they have achieved planning consent.

The museum attracts large numbers of visitors as well as welcoming local school and groups. The museum was visited by between 1,600 and 2,860 people a year between 2009 and 2012.