The next meeting of Radstock Town Council on Monday, 28th April will see a discussion on the proposal by B&NES Council to move the library into the Co-op. Cllr Dave Dixon, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, will be attending with Ian Savigar, Divisional Director of Customer Services. All residents are welcome to attend the meeting to ask questions.

Cllr Lesley Mansell, Chair of Radstock Town Council, said: "This is a poorly thought-out move, which ignores the fact that a number of children's services are provided in the library building. The response to my Cabinet question is that this will save £11,000 and the library will be open for the same hours as the Co-op. This does not add up."

"Consultation has not yet been carried out with staff, service users or Radstock Town Council. The recent petition demonstrated the depth of community support for the service and that this is an unpopular move. Very few people refused to sign and most are saying it is a 'daft idea'. This is not something that came out of any request from the numerous surveys of residents in the town.

"Considering the lack of services in Radstock already, how is this small saving justified?" asked Cllr Boulton, Deputy Chair. "This will see a reduction in the current services. It seems that Radstock must lose out again, while millions are being poured into Keynsham and very little funding is being sought from other sources to support Radstock."

The meeting will also be looking at a final version of the Placemaking Plan. Radstock residents have been busy over the last few weeks completing assessments for the Placemaking Plan on over thirty sites earmarked for housing under B&NES' Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment. This plan gives an opportunity to have some say in the future development of the town.

Please notify the Clerk by 12 noon on Thursday, 24th April if you wish to speak on either of these, by email at: [email protected]">[email protected] or telephone: 01761 437962.