Issue details

A major change project has been established as part of the Council’s Three Year Plan to develop a new model for sustainable library services and community hubs. The project is expected to contribute a £1m saving from the current £3.5m libraries revenue budget by 2015/16.  As part of this project, it is proposed that Hurdsfield and Weston libraries are closed.

The Council is committed to retaining libraries in the 16 towns that they are in today.  Macclesfield is the only town within Cheshire East that has more than one library.  The main library is located close to the town centre and is the busiest library in the borough with 11,785 active users.   Hurdsfield library has approximately 90 active users with a cost per active user of £111.  Weston library has 47 active users with a cost of £210 per active user.  The average cost per active user across all Cheshire East libraries is £53.   

A consultation has been carried out which asked how the closure of the library would affect customers.  The almost universal response was loss of access to books.  The consultation also identified 17 elderly customers with mobility issues who would struggle to access the central Macclesfield library.  If the proposal is approved the service will explore opportunities for community partners to host an informal community ‘book swap’ scheme and we will contact the customers that indicated they had mobility issues to establish whether they would be interested in the Books on Wheels service for house bound customers.

At the meeting it was reported that, since the agenda had been published, the Hurdsfield Community Group, in partnership with the Peaks and Plains Housing Trust, had stepped forward to offer its support for the development of a community led library; this offer was warmly welcomed and it was agreed that it be progressed further. 

The decision to be made was, therefore, amended to reflect this offer in respect of Hurdsfield library; the decision for Weston Library remained unchanged.