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Nottingham library campaigners concerned over decision delay

Save Nottingham Libraries Radford-Lenton protestSave Nottingham Libraries
Plans to shut the libraries have faced sustained opposition from some nearby residents

Delays to a final decision on three threatened libraries in Nottingham have left campaigners frustrated, they said.

Earlier this month the city council's ruling Labour group voted to overturn a plan to close libraries in Radford-Lenton, Aspley and Basford.

But an official vote by the authority's executive board, expected on 22 November, is now due next year.

Save Nottingham Libraries campaigners said they could not "get to the bottom" of reasons for the delay.

Save Nottingham Libraries Billboard in BasfordSave Nottingham Libraries
Save Nottingham Libraries campaigners have worked hard to keep the issue in the public eye

The council is facing a budget shortfall of £28m on top of long-term financial woes which have led to it being monitored by a government-appointed improvement board.

But plans to close the three libraries to save money had been fiercely opposed by many residents.

This led to the vote on 7 November to keep all the branches open.

Des Conway, of the Save Nottingham Libraries campaign, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "We cannot get to the bottom of the reason why they are delaying it.

"It is frustrating. We were ecstatic when we first found out about it. We thought: 'Victory'.

"I still think it is highly unlikely they will go back on that because there will be 21 disgruntled councillors if they do.

"I asked whether they would be tabling it for the December meeting but they could not confirm that either.

"It would have been nice to get this through before Christmas."

'Range of options'

A Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: "We had planned to take a report on the Libraries Transformation proposals to November's Executive Board for a final decision.

"This is an important decision which needs to take account of all the feedback we received during the consultation that we undertook earlier this year.

"It is essential that a final report is as comprehensive as possible to allow good decision-making to take place.

"We are still working on preparing the full range of options for the Executive Board to consider. We will confirm when the item will be scheduled in due course."

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