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The UK Government has announced that Caerphilly County Borough is to get £21.5 million in funding over the next ten year through its Pride in Place scheme.
Labour’s Caerphilly candidate for the by-election, Richard Tunnicliffe, has called for that money to be spent on saving libraries that face the axe.
The ten libraries are: Aberbargoed, Abercarn, Abertridwr, Bedwas, Deri, Llanbradach, Machen, Nelson, Oakdale, and Pengam.
Labour-controlled Caerphilly County Borough Council had agreed to close them earlier this year, but a last minute legal challenge from campaigners has seen them remain open.
Mr Tunnicliffe’s position on the planned library closures has evolved since election campaigning got underway – a reflection he says on the strength of feeling from voters on the doorstep.
In an interview with Caerphilly Observer on September 8, Mr Tunnicliffe said: “How people consume stories has changed so much. Physical books and physical libraries have been in decline – that’s not just here, that’s everywhere.
“If you’ve got a lot of prominent buildings and there are less and less people using them, it’s not efficient and not fair on everybody else if we can’t consolidate and make them as efficient as possible.”
Mr Tunnicliffe, who runs a book publishing company with his wife, has now launched a campaign for people to sign to urge the decision-making board (of which details are scant) to make saving the libraries a priority.
He said: “As a father, a publisher, and a book lover, I know these libraries are the beating heart of their communities. I have heard from people again and again they want to reverse the planned closures.”
He added: “I believe this is the number one issue people are concerned with. It is affecting lots of people’s lives. We have to make it clear this is the number one priority.”
Reform UK’s candidate, Llŷr Powell, however said: “The hypocrisy from the Labour candidate is staggering. While he feigns concern for our communities, his Labour-run council is fighting tooth-and-nail to close our libraries and strip residents of essential services.”
Labour’s interim leader Jamie Pritchard, who was blocked by the party from standing as the Labour candidate, said Mr Tunnicliffe was free to run his campaign the way he wants, but added: “For many, many, years the council has been underfunded…and has been placed in an extremely difficult financial position.”
His predecessor, Cllr Sean Morgan, quit Labour after Mr Tunnicliffe was selected and went on to criticise the party.
In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service though, Cllr Morgan, who is now an independent, said he believed the proposed closures are “absolutely” right and said ongoing discussions to hand over some of the sites to interested community groups shows they can evolve to fulfil a more appropriate social role.
“Instead of just running a building that people meet in, and it’s not meeting its primary purpose, the council then moves to being an enabler or supporter of community resources,” he said.
Mr Tunnicliffe told Caerphilly Observer that libraries must evolve, but that communities had to have their say.
Caerphilly’s by-election candidates
- Welsh Liberal Democrats – Steve Aicheler
- Gwlad – Anthony Cook
- Wales Green Party – Gareth Hughes
- Welsh Conservatives – Gareth Potter
- Reform UK – Llŷr Powell
- UKIP – Roger Quilliam
- Richard Tunnicliffe – Labour
- Lindsay Whittle – Plaid Cymru
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