Library relocation decision to be reviewed

Council bosses will reconsider their decision to move a library after concerns were raised over transparency of a consultation into the plans.

Last month Westmorland and Furness Council's cabinet agreed to declare the building on King's Road in Ulverston, Cumbria, "surplus to operational needs" and permanently move library services to the town's Coronation Hall.

But on Tuesday the scrutiny committee recommended the cabinet to reconsider the decision.

It came after MP for Barrow and Furness Michelle Scrogham said she had secured funds to make renovations to the original library building.

There have been "community concerns" regarding the transparency of the consultation process.

Scrutiny committee chairman, councillor Eamonn Hennessy, said: "We agreed that whilst cabinet acted reasonably by not deferring the decision upon considering all the information available at the time, the consultation itself was not fair and transparent and therefore the committee recommend that cabinet reconsider this decision."

The committee recommended additional consultation with stakeholders, as well as a review of future consultations carried out by the Lib-Dem-led council, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Labour councillor Beverly Morgan called the consultation on the library proposals "more of an information sharing process" which involved "telling, not listening".

Morgan said: "I don’t believe it was a consultation exercise in the true sense of any quality and has been riddled with pitfalls of poor communication."

However, cabinet member for sustainable communities Virginia Taylor said it would have been impossible for the council to consult on keeping King's Road open which was not an option available to them.

She said: "In this consultation, we did not offer choices which we could not fund."

Labour MP Scrogham told the committee that GlaxoSmithKline had committed to "fully fund" work to the library.

She said: "The substantial private funding fundamentally changes the business case considered by cabinet."

She asked the committee to reconsider the decision and "not lose the opportunity" of funding.

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