Campaigners have hit out after it was confirmed that nine county council-run buildings – including Rishton, Oswaldtwistle and Clayton-le-Moors libraries – are set to close.
Lancashire County Council (LCC) has released the results of its 12-week consultation into controversial cuts plans to public buildings, which has come as negotiations are ongoing to secure the future of buildings in community hands.
The buildings which will cease to deliver LCC services are Accrington Youth Offending Team, Clayton-le-Moors Library, Clayton-le-Moors Young People’s Centre, Great Harwood Young People’s Centre, Huncoat Children’s Centre, Oswaldtwistle Library, Oswaldtwistle Young People’s Centre, Rishton Library, and Sure Start Hyndburn - Accrington South Children’s Centre (The Beeches).
Clayton-le-Moors and Oswaldtwistle library, as well as the Accrington Youth Offending Team will be closing from September 30, while Rishton library will close between October 1 and November 30.
The remainder of the buildings are to be closed and services transferred to neighbourhood centres from January 2017 onwards.
Teacher Emma Clark, who has led the campaign to keep Rishton Library open, blasted the announcement.
She said: “We are absolutely devastated at the announcements to date as we feel a strong viable solution has been proposed by ourselves which would benefit all residents of Rishton. We would very much welcome the opportunity to discuss our proposal further with LCC. If we lose this our village will be decimated.”
Christine Hammerton, of the Knit and Natter group which meets in Rishton Library, said the closure will cut off the people who need it most.
She said: “They have closed everything, even in this day and age where people need internet access if they’re elderly or looking for jobs. We are having to go to Great Harwood for everything. A lot of people can’t afford the bus fares and they’re not going to want to walk in the bad weather. It’s crazy.”
Gayle Knight, of the Oswaldtwistle LAMP group which has submitted a proposal to take over Oswaldtwistle Library, is worried about the possibility of the buildings being mothballed.
She said: “All along we felt that the decision had actually been made to earmark them for closure and we’ve been prepared for that. The concerning issue is that they will be closing them, and there will be a period when they are closed and left waiting for a community group to take them over. It’s a very tight timeframe and we need to hear from them now.”
Expressions of interest have been submitted for Rishton, Clayton-le-Moors and Oswaldtwistle Libraries. Hyndburn Leisure Trust has also submitted an interest in taking over Great Harwood Youth Centre.
Hyndburn council leader Miles Parkinson said: “I’m very positive that we should get something positive in the long term. Those four buildings are the ones that we believe we have got sustainable plans put forward for and we’ll do our utmost to keep them.
“We want the county to listen and we want them not to take rash decisions.”
He added: “The last thing we want is for there to be damage or further costs that community groups might have to take on. There needs to be a little bit more time and that’s what I’ll be saying at cabinet, because we don’t want to be left with neglected buildings. We want the transfers to be as smooth and efficient as possible.”
Coun Tony Dobson, Hyndburn’s Tory leader, said: “I think all three libraries have very good bids behind them to save them, from organisations with an excellent reputation in Hyndburn. But the delay is not good at all, we want to keep the business ticking over until the groups can assume the running of them - and most of them are ready.
“I would call on the council not to close any of the buildings that they have received expressions of interest for, to create a ridiculous situation where they have to reopen months later with greater difficulty.”
A report to LCC’s cabinet recommends the closure of county buildings including young people’s and community centres beginning at the end of September.
The cuts come as part of the latest phase of a £262 million budget reduction initiative by LCC.
Lancashire County Council has confirmed that the results of a 12-week public consultation have not changed any of its proposals for the closure of buildings and creation of ‘neighbourhood centres’ in the borough.
However, a package of help is proposed to help establish any community-run library, including £5,000 to cover set-up costs, shelving, an initial supply of books from the county’s store, and advice from a library development officer.
In the report which is due to go before the cabinet on Thursday, September 8, members are set to agree that premises that have received expressions of interest or business cases will also close, pending transfer.
But in cases where district councils are able to take over the funding of the premises involving “no continuing cost to the council”, they may remain open so that services can continue to be provided.
More than 7,000 people responded to the consultation, with 446 responses from Hyndburn. Of nine threatened buildings, six have received either an expression of interest or business case, including the Accrington Youth Offending Team.
A report to county hall has outlined that more work is needed to assess community business cases and expressions of interest for taking over management of the under-threat buildings.
County Councillor David Borrow, deputy leader of Lancashire County Council, said: “We have done a lot of work to assess where services should be located in future, taking account of things such as geographic spread, accessibility and the needs of different communities.
“We’re also keen to continue exploring the potential for other groups and organisations to take on responsibility for some of the affected buildings and services, so we’re grateful for the interest that has been shown in that possibility over the last few months.
“The report acknowledges that more work will be needed to assess the business cases that have been put forward.”
Coun Borrow thanked participants in the council consultation for their “invaluable” feedback and said the cabinet will be carefully considering the report.
He added: “Our aim is to find a solution that still gives everyone in Lancashire good access to good services, despite the pressures on the council’s budget.”
