Letter to Councillor Bluh from David Appleford

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Letter to Councillor Bluh from David Appleford : 12th May

Dear Cllr Bluh

                                                                 re Libraries Consultation

I have previously written letters to more than a dozen councillors and library-related officers opposing the proposed closure of the Old Town branch library, and I am writing again to make sure that my opinions are considered this time round;  it seems that all correspondence on the subject to date has been cast aside on the pretext that things have moved on since it was written, and that previous objections no longer apply.  That, and the way a large petition was summarily dismissed as utterly trivial suggest a breath-taking contempt for the electorate by the decision makers.

I oppose the proposed closure on the basis that we have an excellent facility which could be made even better.
It is vital to Old Town, not only for the benefit of the aged, incapacitated and mothers with young children, but also for the survival of many Old Town businesses.  It also provides the only real community focal point in Old Town.  The quoted savings that closure would bring also form a very small percentage of the Council budget.

I recently attended the meeting at the Arts Centre when Tim Coates gave a presentation on his Swindon Report concerning options for the future of the Swindon Library service.  Only three councillors bothered to attend what was a most informative delivery : Cllrs Pajak, Small and Moffatt.  Cllr Bawden informed me later that our three ward councillors made a deliberate decision with Cllr Martin not to attend.  This is hard to understand.  If this consultation is being taken seriously rather than just being a whitewash, one would expect all decision makers to accept any opportunity to establish all the facts on which that decision is based, and this certainly was one golden opportunity missed.

Mr Coates concludes that Swindon rate-payers are paying well above the national average for a library service well below the average.   Much of the blame for this lies in a top-heavy management structure which could be streamlined to give both cost savings and an improved service without the need of closures.  As Mr Coates has considerable experience in library management and has done an in-depth investigation into Swindon's Library finances, he seems well qualified to give a valuable input to the consultation process.   I am therefore surprised that he isn't permitted to talk to council officers without council approval which didn't seem to be forthcoming at the time.

I would suggest that the Council will be acting irresponsibly if it doesn't examine all available evidence offered as part of the consultation process, and that it should study and take very seriously the points made in the Coates Report.

These views are shared by my wife so this letter should be treated as if two were written; this saves both paper and postage as well as your own time.

Yours sincerely

D Appleford