It has been a busy start to the year for TASK, to say the least, as we discovered that the Council member for Culture Cllr Suzanne Nolan has earmarked Goodmayes Library as the single branch site for closure across the whole borough. Meaning that if her plan goes through, the staff working there will lose their jobs, the site will almost certainly be sold to a property developer for more high density housing and the community will lose a vital facility. For ever.
And where will the 100,000 annual users of Goodmayes Library be expected to go under Nolan's masterplan? You guessed it. Seven Kings Library, the small and temporary shopfront on the High Road which barely accommodates 20 people in a single sitting. At every level, it is a plan with fundamental flaws which seems to operate against the Council's own mantra of protecting frontline services.
Unsurprisingly, it has generated shock and outrage and anger, which is now being focused around a huge campaign of opposition involving every section of the local community. For more details, please see the brand new Save Goodmayes Library website and sign up for its dedicated facebook page.
TASK is clearly concerned about the loss of amenity in Goodmayes and the pressure on services in Seven Kings, and frankly worried that if Goodmayes goes, the way is still open for Cllr Nolan to close Seven Kings in future rounds of cuts. Leading to a cruel double whammy of closures in the south of the borough.
Council leader Cllr Keith Prince- the man whose intervention was decisive getting our new Seven Kings branch open- was at last night's area 5 meeting at Barley Lane school from 715pm , when we made our case against closure and offered some fresh thoughts. Thanks to everyone who turned up to support the Save Goodmayes Library campaign, momentum behind which grows daily. We are confident the case for keeping it open was well made and will be maintaining the pressure over the weeks up until the budget is decided in early March.
If you have yet to do so please go to the dedicated website and sign the petition online - http://www.savegoodmayeslibrary.org/ - and remember that the politicians told us we would never have a new Seven Kings library, which we do only because of the huge public support last time. We need to mobilise that level of support again now to Save Goodmayes Library.
We will be holding our first TASK meeting of 2011 on Tuesday February 1 from 7-8pm at a new venue, Gizem Bakers on the High Road Seven Kings- near the junction with St. Alban's Road. We are grateful to the owners for their generous support.
Hope to see many of you there,
Chris Connelley
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Stiff Little Fingers - At The Edge.
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