At the recent extraordinary town council meeting, the councillors made some really important decisions in regard to trying to retain the library in the centre of Shepton.
Any decision to remove the Library from our town centre will damage the viability and vitality of its economic well being. We know that one of the problems Shepton has, is low high street footfall, I believe it is irresponsible of Somerset county council to take the 44000 visits to the library out of the town centre.
Our community supports the library with good visitor numbers, we have excellent professional staff that do a greatjob. I want the town council to help build on what is currently delivered, we should explore all options in the greatest details, unlike the county council’s light touch table top examination of premises.
It is clear that a modern high street must deliver a mixture of shops, businesses and community facilities, libraries should be in the heart of our community, delivering a wide range of services that meets the needs of our town.
The county council will be holding a library consultation in the new year and it is important that all residents contribute to this, we cannot allow deals behind closed doors to go unchallenged.
I’m sure the town council who unanimously agreed to undertake a study to try a town centre home for our library will work to deliver just that.
It will be for the town council to lead this process, but it is important that our community supports keeping the library in the heart of our town, councils have a duty for the economic well being of our town centres, I fear both the county and district councils are more concerned with financial transactions than delivering community services in the heart of our town
