MORAY Council made a major U-turn last night as it announced plans to spare three closure-threatened libraries amid fears that a legal challenge would cost too much.
Three of the seven libraries that the local authority decided to close could be handed a reprieve.
Campaigners welcomed the news, saying the council was finally starting to “see sense”.
Council leader Allan Wright revealed proposals yesterday to revert to an earlier plan to close just four of the region’s libraries.
This would save the facilities at Cullen, Burghead and Dufftown – while those at Hopeman, Findochty, Portknockie and Rothes would be shut, along with one mobile unit.
Mr Wright made the announcement just hours after people of all ages gathered in Cullen to call on the council to rethink the closure plan. Yesterday’s protest was the latest in a series of high-profile events that went ahead as part of the Save Our Libraries Moray campaign.
The group had decided to launch a legal challenge to the Conservative-independent administration’s plan to go against the recommendation of its own officers and an equalities impact assessment.
At tomorrow’s full meeting of the council, SNP opposition councillors will present a motion to suspend standing orders and allow the decision to be debated again, with the threatened legal challenge cited as a “compelling reason” to do so.
Yesterday, however, Mr Wright said the administration would challenge the SNP motion with an alternative to avoid a costly legal process.
He said: “Clearly, we cannot commit to a lengthy period of litigation, with all the uncertainty that will bring and costs to the public purse.
“As an administration, we have been tasked to cut spending by an unprecedented amount, which we warned would result in unpopular decisions.
“Cutting the number of libraries to what we still consider to be an adequate number was one of those decisions.
“We knew it would be unpopular, but unpopular decisions are part of the job of any elected representative.
“We still believe it was the correct decision, but we recognise that defending it would distract us from the task in hand of cutting our annual spending.”
Mr Wright added: “We are focused on the bigger picture, which is for the council to live within its means.
“Therefore we are proposing that we close four libraries, not seven.”
Save Our Libraries Moray chairman Alistair Jeffs cautiously welcomed the move last night – but said he still had serious reservations about the four libraries that remained in the firing line.
He said: “I welcome the fact that the council is now starting to see a little bit of sense.
“I don’t think they thought we were being serious about the legal challenge – but libraries are a serious matter.”
Mr Jeffs questioned the sense of closing libraries such as the one at Hopeman that had received European funding, which will now have to be repaid at a cost to the council.
He also said some groups felt they had not been properly consulted.
The council projected that it would save £357,000 by closing all seven libraries. However, the campaign group is still adamant that all the libraries should remain open.
Fordyce mother-of-two Wendy Clements was among the protesters at Cullen yesterday.
The 47-year-old said her seven-year-old twins, Finley and Cara, benefited from the community atmosphere in the library.
“The children have been coming here since they were wee,” she said. “They are now P3. The librarian knows their names. It’s a really personal experience. If it was farther away, we wouldn’t go at all.”
Cullen mum Louise Aitken, 22, said the library was crucial for young children, such as her daughter, Taylor, 3, who attends sessions including story time.
She added: “It’s essential for them to come here. It’s good for them and gets them all ready for school and into reading.”