By Richard Evans
The closure of Llandudno’s high street library has moved a step closer despite “grave concerns” over the actual amount of money the project will save. Last week Conwy Council unveiled visual plans of the £10m redevelopment of Venue Cymru, which is dependent on securing UK Government funds, with the hope of transforming the “tired” building into an arts centre.
But the extension plans include the closure of the current Mostyn Street library to save “£126K” a year, despite public outcry, a petition, and a public consultation revealing that 76% of 999 residents feared the move would reduce access.
One of the main concerns was that closing the library could reduce footfall on Mostyn Street, damaging the economy.
Speaking against the development on behalf of the Llandudno Business Forum, John Merrick said: “We can’t support proposals that place the high street and local businesses in jeopardy. Llandudno is an international tourist destination, and part of its popularity is a thriving high street.” Sign up for the North Wales Live newslettersent twice daily to your inbox.
But a vote by Conwy’s special economy and place overview and scrutiny committee at Coed Pela yesterday (Wednesday) evening moved the closure a step closer but not before one Llandudno councillor questioned the council’s sums.
Conwy Council’s head of finance Amanda Hughes said moving the library would save the authority £126K a year, costs which came from a service charge to landlord, national non-domestic rates, utility bills, and cleaning. “If the library was moved, we are confident we would save over £100,000 of these costs,” she said.
But Llandudno councillor Louise Emery said there was a lack of information regarding the costings of Venue Cymru for the next 10 – 15 years. Cllr Emery said she was sceptical about the £126K savings as the figures, which she’d requested from the head of finance ahead of the meeting, had altered from an earlier estimate of £154K after Ms Hughes “double checked” the figures from the previous month.
“It has made me slightly sceptical,” said Cllr Emery. Cllr Emery then scrutinised the information provided by the head of finance, claiming Conwy’s £126K savings estimate was incorrect – as a £46,000 annual electricity bill wasn’t just for the library building but for the whole of the Victoria Centre – a cost Conwy had included in its list of potential savings from the library move.
Cllr Emery then argued that the library only owed 38% of the £46,000, as there was one electric meter for the whole of the Victoria Centre, causing her to distrust the council’s finance team’s figures.
“There is only one meter, one supply into the building, and it is paid for by Conwy County Borough Council because I’ve got the bill here,” she said, holding up the letter-headed bill.
“So they (the council) pay the whole electric, and then they recharge it back to the landlord. So you should only be paying 38% of that, not the full amount.
“So if you can’t get that information accurate – I have the bills here to prove it – it makes me really sceptical about what else is right or wrong about the library costs, because you said these were absolutely the library costs, but there is no separate meters in that building.”
Head of finance Ms Hughes said: “Obviously, you are telling me something that is contrary to the information that I’ve had from other officers within the council. What I do know is that they are bills that we have physically paid and that cash has gone to Npower, the provider. If you are telling me today that some of that is owed to us from other people, then that is of concern to me, clearly.”
She added: “I find it disappointing that you have whizzed that out of your hat here as opposed to taking that up with me to allow me to make appropriate investigations on that during the course of today. It is clearly of grave concern to me as a statutory officer if we are not accounting for things correctly, and I find that quite disappointing and dismaying.”
Ms Hughes said she would investigate but maintained that even with that figure readjusted, Conwy would still save over £100K. Cllr Emery then said: “We’ve still got a finger in the air based on building this white elephant on the side of Venue Cymru, with no revenue costings. Are you happy to sign off a £10m capital investment with no revenue spreadsheet costings in front of you now?”
Ms Hughes said she was confident the additional costs would not be that significant, especially by the time extra ticket sales and income were factored in. Cllr Emery argued the council could not afford future costs associated with the new building, adding: “It is not right, councillors. You can’t afford this. As nice and as pretty as it looks, we can’t afford this.”
Leader Cllr Charlie McCoubrey said the council had had budget gaps of £35m, £28m, and £30.9m in the last three years and pointed to library closures made by Newport and Caerphilly councils, as well as Denbighshire reducing its library service’s hours.
Cllr McCoubrey also seemed to suggest not pressing ahead with the revamp could threaten the £10m pot of money – despite assurances at earlier meetings the yet-to-be-secured funds weren’t dependent on the library move.
“That really shows the pressures authorities are under,” he said. “What we have here is a situation where we can create a vibrant cultural hub, a library with increased opening hours, and create a saving to this council.
“Venue Cymru is incredibly important to our economy. It puts in about £33m per year. The building is 20 plus years old. If that money is not spent, that venue is unsustainable, and that has a much bigger economic impact on the town and the region than what we are discussing today.”
Cllr Chris Hughes said he was in an “awkward position” as he had fought the closure of Colwyn Bay library and a proposed move to Coed Pella, which failed. But the Colwyn Bay councillor said moving the library to Venue Cymru was vital to the future of Llandudno and its economy.
“If tomorrow Venue Cymru was to close because we didn’t get the funding to renovate the facility, what would the impact be on the town?” he said. “I would suggest that the tens of thousands of people who come to conferences would suddenly be lost to Llandudno, and the economic impact on Llandudno would be one hundred times of any impact of moving the library.”
Cllr Harry Saville then referred to a recent planning decision in which councillors voted against planning officers who advised not to allow phone masts on Venue Cymru’s roof, despite the poor quality of phone signals in the town. Cllr Saville asked if the new plans had been discussed with planning and conservation officers, and head of culture Sarah Ecob said conversations were ongoing.
Cllr Goronwy Edwards then criticised the Conservatives for opposing the plans as a political move, citing Cllr Emery, a Tory, backing the closure of Colwyn Bay library. But Cllr Emery replied the Conservative councillors were “from Llandudno” and had listened to the public. Cllr Emery proposed the plans were not backed and a full economic impact assessment was carried out before things progressed.
But Cllr Chris Hughes proposed the committee backed the plans; this was seconded by Cllr Dave Jones, and the report was voted through eight votes to four, with the debate now going to cabinet on Tuesday 8 July.
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