Judicial Review on Church Stretton Library to be heard in April

On 27th March 2015 Shropshire Council decided to close the Church Stretton Library in its current building at the heart of the community and move it out of town to be run by a private company at the school on Shrewsbury Road; thus marking the end of our exemplary vibrant community hub, with its visitor information centre, registrar, customer services and library, to create an isolated, single-use library.

This is in marked contrast to Shropshire Council’s approach to most other towns in Shropshire, where Town Councils have been offered the chance to run their libraries democratically for their communities.

A petition with over 1100 signatures and two public meetings with a combined attendance of around 500 people objected to the relocation and campaigners asked Shropshire Council to “keep the library where it is.” Unfortunately, Shropshire Council confirmed its decision to move the library and campaigners helped to initiate a legal challenge (a Judicial Review) of the decision to move the library.

The High Court has now listed the case for hearing on the 4th and 5th April 2016.

Commenting on the announcement of the date, Felicity Thomas, a spokesperson for the Church Stretton Library Support Group said:

“We did not want to go to court, but we believe that the whole of Shropshire Council’s consultation and decision–making process was flawed. It was only after we had exhausted all other options that we helped initiate a legal challenge, which will provide residents and library users with the opportunity to hear our arguments regarding the validity of the Council’s decision and hear the Council’s responses to the many concerns about relocation expressed by the local community.”