Wirral Council can’t afford replacement furniture for Wallasey Village library

Nov 18 2009 by Liam Murphy, Heswall News

A LIBRARY which sold off furniture ahead of its expected closure has been told by Wirral Council there are no funds to replace it.

Wallasey Village library was one of those expected to be shut as part of Wirral’s controversial library closure plans, which were abandoned six weeks ago.

The council had planned to shut 11 of the borough’s 24 libraries earlier this year and replace them with new neighbourhood centres – but the plans were dramatically dropped ahead of the publication of a Government report into the proposals.

However, as its closure date approached, the Friends of Wallasey Village Library sold off furniture used for meetings and other events at the library.

When the library was given a reprieve, local councillor Paul Hayes took up the case, pressing the authority for help in replacing the furniture.

Last month, the council said it had received Cllr Hayes’s email and was “looking into it and seeing what can be done to help”.

However, Cllr Hayes was later told: “Unfortunately, we do not have funds for the purchase of the replacement furniture.”

Cllr Hayes has since supported the funding application from the local Area Forum.

A spokesperson for Wirral Council said: “We are liaising with the Friends of Wallasey Village Library to identify alternative funding sources and we are hopeful of a positive outcome.”