TEN libraries will be run by volunteers or face closure after Surrey County Council vowed to plough on with its much-maligned plans.
The authority’s cabinet voted unanimously in favour of proceeding with its ‘community partnership’ model on Tuesday, despite being urged by campaigners and opposition councillors to come up with a "more widely supported" policy.
Lee Godfrey, speaking on behalf of Surrey Libraries Action Movement (SLAM), the group that won a High Court judicial review to quash the council’s original decision to go ahead with the plans, said opting to proceed was "simply wrong".
He said: “All the problems of the policy have still not been addressed. It saves no money and it’s an argument over a tiny amount of the council’s budget and is still thoroughly unpopular.
“We don’t feel we are being listened to – we never have. And so it continues.”
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Leader of the council, Councillor David Hodge, assured the meeting the cabinet had "an open mind" before making its decision
He added it was his belief that the 10 libraries - in Bagshot, Bramley, Byfleet, Ewell Court, Lingfield, New Haw, Stoneleigh, Tattenhams, Virginia Water and Warlingham - would be "safe" in the hands of volunteers.
Read the full article from Jack Maidment at GetSurrey
