Agenda item

That the comments the Committee have made during the meeting be commended to the Cabinet as their formal observation on the proposals for the development of the new hub library at Deeside Leisure Centre.

The Chief Officer (Organisational Change) introduced a report to provide an outline of the proposal and feedback the results of the consultation exercise.

Councillor Chris Bithell, Cabinet Member for Education, read out a statement which outlined the objectives of the proposal and gave an assurance that the Authority remained committed to providing a sustainable improved library service for the areas concerned. 

The Chief Officer (Organisational Change) provided background information and referred to the key considerations in the report.  He said it was recognised that libraries were community facilities and made reference to the consultation exercise which had taken place during March and April 2015 with community representatives, library users, young people and the equality assurance group to seek views and opinions on the proposals.    

The Chair invited members to raise questions.

Councillor Nancy Matthews expressed a number of concerns around the Deeside Leisure Centre location: the proposal was to move the library to the Queensferry area which currently had the lowest footfall of the three libraries.  She commented on the convenient location of other libraries situated in town centres and suggested that the existing library facility at Connah’s Quay could be a more suitable location for the hub provision.  Councillor Matthews also commented on the needs of library users and cited as examples use of the library by young people to do homework and research after school, and use by the general public for I.T facilities.  Councillor Matthews also referred to the library mobile service and asked if details on the use of the service could be provided.

Councillor Nigel Steele Mortimer expressed concerns that feedback from the public consultation exercise would not be taken on board by the Authority.  He also felt that the provision of a new library service at Deeside Leisure Centre was too close to the existing library facility at Connah’s Quay.  He reiterated the comments expressed by Councillor Matthews that Deeside Leisure Centre attracted visitors from across all of North Wales and beyond and that the majority of people would not necessarily be users of the Flintshire library service.

The Chief Officer (Organisational Change) responded to the comments and queries raised.  He gave an assurance that robust consultation had been undertaken with a wide range of groups in addition to library users and that the outcome of the exercise was critical in helping to form the proposals around future service provision and asset transfer.  He referred to the Welsh Public Library Standards which required that a static library service point should be within 2.5 miles of at least 75% of the population and explained that the proposal fell within the Standard for access by Hawarden, Mancot and Queensferry communities. 

Councillor Aaron Shotton, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance, commented on the difficult choices to be  made under current and future financial restraints and referred to a 30% reduction in the library budget and the £0.050m savings in operational costs which could be achieved by the proposals and would contribute to the overall £0.600m anticipated savings in library services over three years.

Councillor Aaron Shotton also commented on the need to be mindful  of service provision in the Sealand and Garden City areas which had been previously been subjected to library closures and were now served by the Queensferry library.   

Councillor Dave Mackie expressed a number of concerns around the proposal to develop the hub library service at Deeside Leisure Centre which he felt was not the most suitable location. He referred to the geographical research he had undertaken in relation to the 2.5m radius and catchment areas and expressed the view that Hawarden, which had the largest population in the County, could be considered as a suitable location.  In explaining his objections to the proposals he also referred to the site of the existing library in Hawarden and to a further building which was currently vacant and could be utilised to provide a community library service.

The Chief Officer (Organisational Change) responded to the comments and questions raised and gave an assurance that further work would be undertaken with communities around asset transfer options.   Following on from Councillor Mackie’s concerns around the geographical location of the new hub library he said a comparison would be undertaken in relation to  whether a library was located in Deeside as opposed to Hawarden and  Mancot.  Broughton would also be factored in as a library coverage with its catchment as this would also have an impact on coverage of parts of Hawarden, and coverage of areas such as Garden City and Sealand. 

In response to the queries raised around the CyMAL grant the Chief Officer gave a brief overview of the application process and explained that it  had been submitted to the Committee when it had been established what was feasible. 

Councillor Clive Carver referred to the current location of the Hawarden Library which shared the same building as the Flintshire Records Office and sought clarification around the future of the Records Office if Hawarden Library was closed.  Councillor Aaron Shotton advised that the two were not related.  Councillor Carver stated that although he was against the overall relocation of Hawarden Library, he would not be opposed to the provision of a mobile library service in Hawarden, however, but it would be difficult to find a suitable site from where the service could be provided.  The Chief Officer reiterated his advice that the Authority would work with all three communities to consider a range of options to achieve the best possible outcome in terms of location and service provision.

Councillor Paul Shotton spoke in support of the proposal and said the opportunity to secure a grant from CyMAL towards the cost of the new hub library was to be welcomed.  He said the location of the new library at the Leisure Centre would also provide visitors with the additional facility of being able to access a wide range of library services.

In summary the Chief Officer (Organisational Change) commented on the next stage of the process which would include working with communities to implement whatever proposal was finally agreed.  This would also involve the consideration of design issues, asset transfer locations, and provision of  I.T facilities.

The Chair concluded consideration of the item by observing that this issue had prompted a good debate. The comments which had been made and the questions which had been asked were examples of effective scrutiny, and he thanked everyone for their contributions. In the circumstances, the best proposal from the meeting would be to say that the comments the Committee have made during the meeting be commended to the Cabinet as their formal observation on the proposals for the Libraries.

RESOLVED:

That the comments the Committee have made during the meeting be commended to the Cabinet as their formal observation on the proposals for the development of the new hub library at Deeside Leisure Centre.