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Ryhall Library campaigners celebrate as Rutland County Council announces facility will stay open in its current form




Campaigners who have fought hard to save their library from the axe are celebrating after a council finally committed to keeping the building open.

Lack of an alternative venue and local government reorganisation were cited by Rutland County Council (RCC) in a public announcement on Friday, which announced that Ryhall Library would remain open.

Debbie Rolfe
Debbie Rolfe

Villagers have been campaigning for months to save the library, which was quietly recommended for closure in January. Since then there have been many months of confusion with campaigners unclear about why money previously committed to improving Ryhall Library had been withdrawn, but now following a public consultation, the local authority says it will remain in its current form.

Charlotte Davis, chairperson of Ryhall Library Action Group, said: “There is now an exciting opportunity over the next three years, ahead of the pending local government reorganisation, to put the library’s continued existence on a sustainable long-term future.

“This should start with removing the delay in granting the building the status of an Asset of Community Value which will allow the parish to plan how the building’s future can be protected . Following which, RCC should define and implement a maintenance programme to catch up with its admitted five year backlog of repairs … for which it is clear existing budgets will adequately permit.

Charlotte Davis
Charlotte Davis

“The Ryhall Library Action Group hopes it will now be able to work collaboratively with the parish and county councils to explore how use of the building can be open longer to expand the services it offers local groups and become an even more valued element of our village life.”

Debbie Rolfe, chairperson of the parish council said: “This is great news. We had a very positive meeting with the county council last Thursday (June 19) in which they informed us this was the outcome.

“I think it was the right thing to challenge the county council on their closure plans and to challenge the facts and figures that they produced. We are still looking at having the living well service in Ryhall.

Ryhall Library campaigners
Ryhall Library campaigners

“We now as a parish council and community will be able to explore our options. But the message is clear. We need people to use it, or we will lose it.”

Rutland County Council will formally declare its intention to keep Ryhall library as part of the existing library service at its cabinet meeting on July 10. The county’s other three libraries, at Oakham, Uppingham and Ketton, are all undergoing extensive improvements to modernise them. The council will spend national grant funding on improving Ryhall Library, but says it will not be able to spend extensive capital funding on the building.

In their reason for the decision, the council said: “The council has explored possible alternative locations within Ryhall and other nearby villages, as well as considering the demands and uncertainty around local government reorganisation.

With no alternative venues immediately available to support a move of the library service, Rutland County Council has concluded that a prolonged process to relocate the provision and then dispose of the building would not be in the interest of library users or an effective use of resources, at this time.

“The council is also mindful of the potential impact of local government reorganisation. With public assets and the delivery of local services (including rural libraries) expected to be under the control of a new council body in the next three years, Rutland County Council believes the option to keep Ryhall Library service in its current location is preferable and will give the local community more time to consider options should a future council seek to make changes to library provisions.”



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