The Parish Council held a public meeting on Tuesday 26th March, 7pm at Wendover Library with an Extraordinary Council meeting that followed to make a decision on the next steps.
The options presented included supporting a full refurbishment for £230k, and the outside landscaping for an additional £45k.
There was also the option to not invest, as a smaller refurbishment will still be able to proceed.
Finally, there was an option to invest £20k to create a space in the library for the Parish Council, but this leaves the issue of what happens to the Clock Tower.
All of these issues were explored at the public meeting and a decision was made at the extraordinary meeting as to the way forward.
Decision:
Wendover Parish Council has decided it is not the right time to financially support the library project.
After a presentation (linked above) and public consultation held in the Library the Parish Council felt that it did not have enough information, it would be too high a financial risk and there was not enough time to explore other options. The Parish Council is a big supporter of the Library and the services it brings to the local community but felt at the moment it could not make a decision on the current options available to it and rather than complicate the project planning process it would step aside but keep in touch with developments.
There was concern that the support of the library would stretch finances for the Parish Council at a time when they are under great pressure to provide value for money to residents. There were many other detailed questions about the arrangement that could not be answered at this stage and so it was decided not to proceed with the current funding options. Should there be changes to the project the Parish Council could always reassess the project and bring the issue back for a decision.