‘THERE is no compelling evidence why the plans to relocate Redditch Library to the town hall hub would result in a reduced service’ – that was the verdict of the county council’s Overview and Scrutiny performance board.
The ONS Chair, Coun Tom Wells, was speaking about the move at the latest meeting on Monday.
Earlier in the meeting Coun Marcus Hart, the cabinet member for communities, said the responses to the library relocation consultation ‘would be seriously considered’ but ‘were just one of a number of factors’.
We reported earlier this month how 1,467 people had taken part in the three-month consultation, which was 2.2 per cent of the town’s population.
But, of those who did respond, 72.3 per cent said they disagreed with the relocation.
Of the library members who took part, 77 per cent said they did not want it relocated, compared to 52 per cent of the participating non-library members.
Coun Hart said: “This was a consultation not a referendum, we will seriously consider the 1,467 responses, but 15,000 Redditch residents are members of the library so you do have to consider what the silent majority might be thinking.”
Relocating the library to the town hall as part of a ‘community hub’ is part of the Town Plan Deal, led by Redditch Borough Council.
This would allow for the current library building to be demolished to make way for a plaza in the town centre.
It is hoped this would improve the flow into the town centre from the Kingfisher and help attract new businesses.
Three public speakers pleaded their case to keep the service in its current location at the meeting, including Emily Tyrrell from the Hands Off Redditch Library group.
She said: “I have spoken with former library staff and all nine of the people I consulted were against the move to the town hall.
“The library is in good condition and the interior is really smart, owing to a recent £1million refurbishment, and its perfect location so close to the Kingfisher shopping centre is a prime feature.
“To back Redditch Borough Council’s absurdly wasteful proposals to demolish a purpose-built library, and to ignore the public, would be an embarrassing act of folly by Worcestershire County Council.”
In March, the national charity the Library campaign produced a report into the consultation, which described it as ‘fundamentally flawed’- a suggestion the county council said it ‘did not accept’ at the time.
Another public speaker referenced that report to raise his concerns, which included the consultation not being conducted when plans were at a formative stage as well as the lack of advertisement of the process, particularly within the library building.
Hannah Perrott, Assistant Director for Communities, said over 15,000 library users were emailed twice to promote the survey and felt the consultation was ‘well-publicised’ through advertising in the local press and social media.
She added due diligence had been done on updated floor plans and the authority had a higher level of confidence that what they could deliver in the proposed new space is equal to the current library service.
She added officers were working with Redditch Borough Council to minimise access issues should the library move, such as having blue badge parking.
The county council’s cabinet will now make a final decision on the library relocation on July 20.
