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| Green Party Cllrs Rober Barraclough and Derek Hardcastle at Kirkburton Library |
Kirkburton Parish Council, which has a majority of Green
Party Councillors, last night proposed the first part of a plan to save local
Libraies
Councillor Derek Hardcastle who serves as a Councillor on
both Kirklees and Kirkburton Parish Council proposed that the Parish Council
should,
“investigate the feasibility of establishing Parish
Libraries Trusts where the current Kirklees owned libraries at Kirkburton and
Shepley are ‘asset transferred ‘ to the community by Kirklees Council. We will
seek a partnership agreement with Kirklees Council to retain Library services
including an enhanced service offering home library services to elderly and
disabled householders in all villages served by the Parish. Furthermore the
Parish will investigate and come back with proposals for transferring the
Parish council office into Kirkburton Library to help ensure a sustainable
future for this key community facility. ”
Green Party Councillor Robert Barraclough who also serves on
Kirklees Council and Kirkburton Parish Council said,
“there is a real danger that if we do not act decisively
that we could lose rural library services. Kirklees has indicated that it is
looking to halve the Library budget. This could mean having only a few large
Libraries in towns such as Huddersfield, Batley and Dewsbury. We simply cannot
wait for this to happen or just make meaningless statements from the sidelines.
Those communities that take the initiative and act early will have the best
chance of retaining services. If we do not engage with the administration of
the Council in Kirklees to seek a sustainable resolution to the Libraries issue
we could lose these valued community buildings and services.
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