Friends of Wiveliscombe Library prepared a comprehensive joint response to the County Council’s consultation on proposals which threaten to close Wivey library. FoWL’s 40-page response was supported by the town council, five parish councils, local schools and churches, the business group, civic society and Wiveliscombe Area Partnership.
The response, along with a book of protest signed by 650 local people, was presented by Pauline Homeshaw, Kiran Narang and myself to our County Councillor, James Hunt, at the start of Wiveliscombe Town Council’s meeting on 11th June 2018.
FoWL’s response shows Wiveliscombe library is one of the best used in Somerset, offers good value for money and its closure would transfer costs to our community which are larger than the savings that would be made by the County Council.
A high level summary of the consultation is due to be presented to a County Council Committee on 10th July. The consultation results and recommendations on the future of Somerset libraries should then be published on 27th September. These will be considered by a Scrutiny Committee on 9th October, followed by a final Cabinet decision due on 17th October. Community Library Partnerships proposals will be considered from Nov 2018 to Jan 2019, followed by implementation up to April 2019.
Dave Mansell
A GREEN VIEW for Wiveliscombe and Upper Tone 