THE five Labour parish councillors in Stockton Heath have called for a “modest, ring-fenced contribution” from parish funds to help save Stockton Heath library.
And as the LiveWire public consultation on libraries draws to a close, they are challenging neighbouring parish councils to match any funds from Stockton Heath residents.
At the recent Stockton Heath Parish Council meeting, during a formal presentation by LiveWire, Cllr Nick Bent raised the possibility of a small increase in the parish precept to support the library – but on the strict condition that the library remains open as a public, statutory library service with a free book lending service.
Labour parish councillors are also now challenging Lib-Dem dominated Appleton and Grappenhall and Thelwall parish councils to pay a “fair share” towards saving Stockton Heath library.
Library membership figures requested by Cllr Sue Barlow and just released by LiveWire, who run the borough’s library service, show that more of the regular users of Stockton Heath library actually live in Appleton parish (1,432) rather than Stockton Heath parish (1,211).
Another big chunk of Stockton Heath library members live in Grappenhall and Thelwall parish (1,106). All three parish councils are controlled by the Liberal Democrats.
Labour’s Cllr Laurence Murphy said: “The Lib-Dems need to put their money where their mouth is on libraries, especially as it was the Lib-Dem-Tory coalition government that cut council budgets to the bone.
“We are all committed to saving Stockton Heath library but all three of the parishes who benefit from it should pay something towards saving it.”
The five Labour parish councillors in Stockton Heath are Cllr Sue Barlow, Cllr Nick Bent, Cllr Helen Dutton, Cllr Angela Fell and Cllr Laurence Murphy.
2 Comments
Have the Labour Councillors asked the smaller parishes of Hatton, Stretton and Walton if they are willing to contribute ?
It’s a bit rich asking Grappenhall and Thelwall Parish Council to contribute, if anything, they should send some funds to the community run Grappenhall Library, which was the one of the first libraries to be axed by WBC. Presumably Lymm library will be seeking assistance from their parish council?