Church Stretton residents urged to take part in consultation for town’s library and its services

Church Stretton residents are being encouraged to have their say on proposals for the town’s library and its services.

The consultation follows an event held last month (November 2014) in the town, whereby residents were invited to express their views on the proposals, which include moving the library, visitor information centre and customer services to different locations within in the town.

The consultation is part of the ongoing work between Shropshire Council, Church Stretton Town Council, South Shropshire Academy (Church Stretton School) and the Mayfair Centre on looking at how the library and other face-to-face services can be better delivered to local people in the town, in a more sustainable and cost-effective way.

Over the past five months, the organisations have been discussing and developing opportunities for new ways of delivering and improving the services currently housed in the library building in Church Stretton. This includes looking at redesigning the existing face-to-face customer-focused services, to provide places that residents can easily access and get information and advice, that both helps them and enables them to help others within their community.

The proposal for Church Stretton is to work in partnership with South Shropshire Academy Trust to provide a library located at Church Stretton School.  The aim would be to provide a vibrant and modern library facility that meets the needs of the whole community, including pupils and staff at the school and the public.

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for business growth and culture, said:

“Libraries are an integral part of the community, and we strongly feel they should be protected and nurtured for future generations to come.

“Over the years library services have shown a steady decrease in demand, as people are now choosing to access what they want in different ways, and they do pose a financial burden on an already shrinking budget; this drop in demand also gives us an opportunity to look at how we can reshape these services to better serve our local communities.

“This is why we are working with our partners and residents in Church Stretton, to ensure we find ways to continue to deliver high quality library and community services, at lower cost, but with a better overall outcome for the whole community.

“I really want to encourage other residents not yet involved in these conversations, to join in and have their say on these proposals.”

Lee Chapman, a local Shropshire Councillor for Church Stretton and Craven Arms, said:

“The proposal from the school is a really good one.  But we are still keen to hear about any other ideas that save the money needed.  So get in touch and tell us if you like the school proposal or if you have any other ideas; we would love to hear from you.”

Residents can pick up a questionnaire along with the proposals and updated Frequently-Asked Questions at the Church Stretton Town Council office, the library or the Mayfair Centre.  You can also complete the survey at http://new.shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved/church-stretton-library/.

Deadline for submissions is Friday 19 December 2014.