A COUNTY councillor says he has not given up hope for the future of Chickerell’s library.

Chickerell is one of nine libraries that face losing council funding in April next year after members of Dorset County Council voted to reduce the authority’s core library network in a bid to save £800,000.

Council member for Chickerell and Chesil Bank Ian Gardner has responded by penning a letter to the authority’s chief executive David Jenkins raising several concerns in relation to his local library.

He highlights the increasing population of Chickerell with a high percentage of young children, possible income from developer contributions and local support as reasons for keeping the library open.

Coun Gardner said 300 homes had already been planned for Chickerell and up to 700 more could follow.

He said: “Chickerell is to grow faster than many other Dorset communities and it will have many young children, deprived persons and elderly who would have great difficulty or significant costs in accessing the Weymouth Library.”

Coun Gardner said each new home could bring in up to £200 in contributions from developers that would be earmarked for community infrastructure projects such as libraries and suggested that should be taken into account when analysing the future financial viability of the local library.

He said in his letter that support from Chickerell Town Council, which will have to take on responsibility for the library building, and the Friends of Chickerell Library group means the County Council could maintain the facility for as little as £8,000 a year.

Coun Gardner said opening times at the library had also only been recently altered to make the facility more accessible and that, with these new opening times and the increasing population of the area, there could be more demand than expected.

He said: “Potentially if it had more houses and was open at the right times, how successful would Chickerell Library be?”

Coun Gardner said he expected Chickerell Town Council and Dorset County Council would reach an agreement over the future of the library so that it would still serve the community.

He said: “I’m not giving up hope on Chickerell library.”

Council 'committed' to support

Dorset County Council’s director for adult and community services Debbie Ward said the process for deciding which libraries would face a loss of funding used criteria drawn up by councillors on the policy development panel before a free vote on the matter at full council.

She said the authority would continue to fund four other libraries in the Weymouth area as part of its core library network – at Weymouth, Littlemoor, Portland Tophill and Wyke Regis.

Mrs Ward added: “The county council remains committed to supporting those communities where library funding will be withdrawn, including Chickerell, to take over and run their own independent library service.

“As with other communities, we look forward to discussions with the Friends of Chickerell Library and the town council to establish how we can best achieve this goal.”