An update from Squirrels Heath campaigner, Mark Whiley
Thanks to those that attended our Rally with staff unions on September 4th. The subsequent meeting saw our petition accepted by the council. We also learnt the following:
• Decisions won’t be halted – The HRA are not willing to halt the consideration of library closures and are adamant that a decision is made before the end of the year or shortly afterwards.
• Multi-use options are on the agenda – Council Officers have been tasked with coming up with alternative proposals, and the motion that passed after HRA amendment explicitly stated that they would consider “multi-use venues for existing council services”.
• HRA members believe their group won’t close libraries – Cllr. James Glass said that “I do believe that we will not close a library”. Cabinet members such as Cllr. Graham Williamson picked up on some of the ideas floated by campaigners including housing atop libraries and consolidating assets (multi-use). This could be uncomfortable if the new Cabinet Member for Libraries, Cllr. Gillian Ford, concludes that their group needs to push for closures.
• Opposition is united against closures but attendance is poor – 8 councillors did not attend the meeting, including 5 Conservative councillors. The Residents Association do not have a majority, so every vote at council meetings counts.
It’s expected that reports will come to a meeting of the Council’s Cabinet on December 11th.
WHAT WE CAN DO
Pushing alternatives to closures
Until the end of the year, we will continue to push alternatives to closures, working with opposition councillors, staff unions and the press.
As well as multi-use options, we have previously suggested that a proposal could be made to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, as with Swiss Cottage Library, for necessary library building repairs and reducing energy costs. The government opened Phase 4 last week and applications can be made until November 25th.
Sharing your stories on why libraries are important
We need to keep libraries in the news. Personal stories about the help library staff have given you, warm spaces, summer reading challenges, offering refuge and respite, inspiring you to take on a new career… email me at greenparty@markwhiley.com what they’ve done for you and let us share these stories widely. Please include a picture and explicit consent for us to use them.
A favour: 60 SECOND SURVEY TO RATE YOUR COUNCILLORS
If you’ve got 60 seconds or less, please complete our survey on how you are represented by your councillors. We also have a question for you to tell us what local issues you feel need tackling.
Many thanks,
Mark Whiley
Promoted by Mark Whiley on behalf of Barking, Dagenham and Havering Green Party, both at PO Box 78066, London, SE16 9GQ.
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