Bagshot Library Saved From Closure (Surrey Heath Liberal Democrats

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Bagshot Library Saved From Closure

September 27, 2006 1:57 PM

Bagshot residents join Cllr Meurig Williams, Cllr Shirley Wheeler and Cllr Duncan Clark in celebrating the decision to save Bagshot Library.

Local people who have been campaigning to save Bagshot's library are full of joy at the news that it has been saved.

After 6 months of hard work and worry for library users, the Tory Executive of Surrey County Council received an Officer's report recommending that it should be kept open at its present location. This was agreed on 26th September.

This news follows the successful Windelsham Parish Council meting held in July, which was organised by Lib Dem Councillor, and Chairman of the Parish Council, Bryan Ward.

Margaret Williams of the community based support group 'Friends of Bagshot Library' thanked Councillor Bryan Ward for setting up the public meeting with Surrey County Council. She told Focus "We believe that the meeting swung it for us. All of the contributions by residents were powerful and articulate. We could see that the Library managers were impressed."

Secretary of 'Friends of Bagshot Library', Timothy Faltermeyer, agreed "The hall was packed, some people couldn't get seats - a real show of public support. The Parish Council did all the work to get it organised, they were brilliant. We have also put out a Library Newsletter with the opening hours, and a lot more people have been joining and taking out books because of this. Also the coverage in the local newspaper and stories in Focus has helped. "

Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson, Cllr Duncan Clark, told Focus "It's important for us all to keep on working to keep Bagshot Library vibrant and successful. We can't afford to slacken off now the decision has been taken to keep the Library open. We must make sure our Library goes on growing! The real shame here is that Tory Surrey County Council could have avoided all of heartache caused to local residents by their threat of closure. The closure of Bagshot Library was never going to save vast sums of money, but its closure would have caused untold harm to the local community"