New focus on Church Stretton library

Residents in Church Stretton and the surrounding area are being asked to make their views known over what shape the library service should take in the coming years in the town.

Church Stretton Library has been the centre of controversy and a protracted legal wrangle in recent years but Shropshire Council started discussions discussions over who will take over the running of the service, and whether it will stay in its current town centre building, in February.

At that time it was confirmed that two parties had come forward to express interest in taking on the running of the service, triggering a bidding process that is still ongoing.

Now the authority is going back to the people of Church Stretton to ask them for their input as part of the process.

Lezley Picton, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for culture and leisure, said that Shropshire Council’s library budgets had been "significantly reduced" due to cuts in central government funding, which is why it was working with local organisations to secure library provision for the future.

She said: “Our vision is to ensure libraries in Shropshire remain at the heart of local communities. Much time and resource has gone into working with local people to ensure libraries continue to thrive and provide the services that residents want. We therefore hope people in Church Stretton will get involved in this survey.”

Based on the feedback from the survey, criteria will be developed and incorporated into the public procurement exercise where organisations can submit their full proposals for the operation of a library service for the town, she said.

A bidder is expected to be chose and new arrangements for the service in place by summer 2018.

"Shropshire Council is taking a locality approach to commissioning services.

"For the library service, this has meant working within local communities to find sustainable solutions that will secure library provision for the future. It has been recognised that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, so approaches have varied, depending on local circumstances and priorities," she said.

Shropshire Council’s cabinet had previously rubber-stamped a decision to move the library from its town centre building on church street to be run at Church Stretton School.

But there was an outcry from campaigners who wanted to keep the service in the town centre, which came to a head last year with Church Stretton Library Support Group raising a judicial review against the decision, and then invoking the localism act.

Shropshire Council decided not to fight in court and instead asked for fresh expressions of interest in autumn 2016.

Church Stretton residents can complete the new survey online at new.shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved/library-services-in-church-stretton or visit the Get Involved pages on the Shropshire Council website shropshire.gov.uk.

Paper copies are available at the library itself, Teme Church Stretton leisure centre, Mayfair Health and Well-being Centre and Church Stretton Town Council’s office.

The closing date for the survey is July 10 at 5pm.