Rutland Council delays decision over controversial library closure but cash may have been found
Campaigners fighting to save their village library are feeling hopeful after a senior member of Rutland County Council said money to keep the library open 'may have been found'.
The authority had said a decision on the future of Ryhall Library would be made next week but has put out a statement to say it would be delaying the decision to 'consider opportunities that merit further exploration with community leaders.'
And the cabinet member for communities Cllr Christine Wise (Lib Dem) told the Local Democracy Reporting Service, some money may have been found.
She said: "Very late in the day we may have found a source of some funding that we need to go back to the community and chat about. We want to explore the options. There is a strength of feeling in the council among the members and the officers that we want to do all we can to keep the library services in Ryhall. This has been portrayed as the council versus the village and that was very unfortunate."
Ryhall villagers and the parish council had been fighting a proposal to consider closure of the library, since it was mooted in cabinet papers back in January.
The papers said that repairs to the 1970s era library would have cost as much as £250,000, which the authority said it did not have. The possible closure news came out of the blue to the village, as only six months before the authority had announced the library, along with the three other libraries the council runs in the county, would undergo renovations and become part of the living well service, which combines health and community services.
In a bid to save the library, the Ryhall Library Action Group was set up with protests and considerations of taking the building over as a community managed facility, the group also submitted a thorough 20 page response to the council's consultation about the library's future, which disagreed with the authority's own data on usage and costings.
Parish councillor Andrew Nebel, who has been leading on the parish council's objection to a closure, said: "Rutland Parish Council are very hopeful on learning about this decision that Rutland County Council are taking account of our detailed submission which showed the costs of maintaining the library are nowhere near their original estimates.
"We truly believe it is affordable to keep the library open and we would like closer collaboration with the local authority to ensure the services are enhanced and improved."
Founder of the action group Charlotte Davis, says she has mixed feelings about the delay, and said it is still unclear what may happen. The county council has not been in touch with the community about the possible options.
She said: "I cannot tell you how many hours of my life and others have gone into this campaign. My concern is that it keeps getting kicked down the road. We don't want to lose the impetus and for it to be forgotten. If it takes too long, we will lose momentum."
At this stage it is unknown as to when final decisions will be made.
The council's statement said: "Rutland County Council has chosen to delay a discussion that was due to take place at Cabinet on Tuesday, April 8, regarding consultation feedback and the future delivery of library services in Ryhall. This is to give the council more time to consider opportunities that merit further exploration with community leaders; after reviewing the information it has gathered throughout the consultation period. Timescales for this will be confirmed in the coming weeks."
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