Councillors listen to residents’ views on Oswestry hub at drop-in session

Moves to create a service hub at Oswestry Library are still in discussion following a meeting between members of the public and local councillors.  

The meeting, organised by Oswestry Town Mayor and local Shropshire Councillor Martin Bennett, and attended by local Shropshire Councillor Keith Barrow, Leader of Shropshire Council, was held at the library on Tuesday 17 July 2012 from 3pm.  The drop-in session was judged to be successful, even given the small number of people who attended.

Councillor Martin Bennett apologised that a number of people who may have wanted to attend had found it difficult to do so.

“We wanted to hold a meeting sooner rather than later, and pressures on the Leader’s diary which is usually pretty full from one end of the week to the other, meant that the only early slot was the one we went for.”

Councillor Bennett added that anyone who wanted to email or telephone Councillor Barrow or himself was welcome to do so, and the details were on the Shropshire Council website or could be obtained direct from the council via 0345 678 9000.

Those attending were able to question the reasons for the proposed service hub, and voice their concerns direct.  Concerns included the potential for a change in the character of the library, and questions were raised about the potential for locating the service hub somewhere else.

In response to these concerns, people were assured that the proposals were not a ‘done deal’, though it was also pointed out that the way people accessed information about council services was changing.  It was stressed that there were concerns about the effects of future cuts in Government funding for the council, and that there was still a strong commitment to protect the library service as much as possible. 

It was suggested that by creating the service hub, which would also make the use of the building more cost effective, it would be less likely to attract service reductions.  Concerns about the behaviour of people who may be agitated about their council issue were not  supported by the record of incidents at Castle View, which was actually very low.

While there is space in what was the old library building, the location of the various areas makes it very difficult to provide access for people with disabilities, which was a major criticism to the library service.  Plans had been considered to provide a second entrance to the library, so that customers who wanted to avoid walking through the service hub could do so; but, apart from the fact that staff were not happy with a two entrance solution, it potentially made it more difficult to try to bring the rest of the building back into use.

Councillors reported that, having had talks with the staff of both customer services and the library, some of their earlier concerns had been addressed, and both sets of staff were now committed to a trial of the service hub.  However, this would not take place until staff were satisfied that the IT which would back up the provision was 100% working and effective, and any trial would be closely monitored.  Before any trial started an ‘open morning’ would be arranged to show anyone with concerns exactly what would be happening.

Martin Bennett said:

“I have asked the library manager to work up her suggestion of an ‘open morning’, and I am assured by staff that the entrance hall to the library should not look or feel too different from the way it looks now.”

Keith Barrow commented:

“I was happy to meet with the public who came to the meeting, and willing to talk to anyone about this proposal, but I can assure everyone that nothing will be done immediately.  Staff are in agreement that we should at least try this out to see if it works, and I hope the public will agree, but if it doesn’t then we will look again at the scheme.”

The council is continually looking at creative and cost effective ways to ensure that all council buildings are being used effectively and to their full potential.  We are continually changing the way we work and deliver services so that, as and when further cuts come along, we are not forced into drastic measures which really would upset people.