18/5/2009 - Longtown moving forward with Local Links : Cumbria County Council

A new one-stop-shop in Longtown bringing together the local library and many public services into one convenient place will open next month.

Refurbishment work for the new opening will mean that Longtown library will be temporarily closed from Monday 25 May to Wednesday 17 June inclusive. Whilst the library refurbishment work is taking place, people can renew library items on-line via www.cumbria.gov.uk/libraries. Books can be returned to the box in the porch at Longtown Library and people can access alternative libraries at Brampton or Carlisle.

When it reopens on Thursday 18 June, the library will have nearly double the opening hours of the old one and will also include a range of other services for local people.

Local Links are a single place where local people can go to find out information about council services and get help and advice from trained customer service advisors. Local Links have already been successfully opened elsewhere in the county in Alston, Wigton, Aspatria, Ambleside, Grange-Over-Sands and Milnthorpe.

The Longtown Local Links office will be operated jointly between Cumbria County Council and Carlisle City Council.

The centres also provide information and services from other local organisations, such as Job Centre Plus and Citizen’s Advice. The new Longtown Local Links will have room for other organisations to use the space, such as the parish council and Carlisle City Council.

A range of Carlisle City Council services, including reporting street lighting faults, booking bulky waste collections, advice on refuse and recycling arrangements will all be available. Benefits advice surgeries will also be held at the new office.

Local people have been consulted on when they would like the new library to be open under the new 25-hours-per-week system, which is almost double the old 13-hours-per-week.

Over 350 people responded to the survey and over 70 per cent of them preferred option 3, which recommended the following opening hours:

Mon 1pm-7pm (late opening)

Fri 10am-12pm; 1pm-5pm

Under the old system, Longtown library was open at the following times:

Mon 1pm-3.30pm; 5pm-6.30pm

The results of the consultation will be submitted to Carlisle Local Committee on June 22, who will then confirm the new opening hours for the library.

The extended library and new Local Links are part of the Longtown Moving Forward project - a long-term scheme for the delivery of shared services in the town and reinvestment in community facilities.

At a Cabinet meeting earlier this month (May 5) it was agreed that an outline planning application could be submitted for the proposed development of a new nursery/children’s centre next to the library and Local Link. The project is also planning to include community playing fields with changing facilities, open space and play facilities and new residential development, including affordable housing. At the Cabinet meeting the county council approved a new allocation of £170,000 for the project in the 2009/10 capital programme, subject to planning permission.

The county council will now be working with the Parish Council to explore whether other external funding streams can be used for the project.