THE Save Atherton Library Group has been campaigning to retain the library in its present York Street home ever since Labour councillors supported the Wigan Council proposal that it should be downgraded and relocated to the ill-fated 14-to-19-year-old’s centre.

Since then, the only viable option to retain the library in the York Street Buildings was proposed by the Atherton Consortium to transform the building into a much-needed skills centre, at a fraction of the cost of the 14-to-19-year-old’s centre.

In fact, there would be no cost to the council because it would have received a rental income for the buildings.

The other option was to transfer the buildings to the community in a community asset transfer deal as part of the Atherton Consortium bid.

All the work done by the Atherton Consortium, which included the save Atherton Library Group, Fix it UK, the Harmony Youth Project, Atherton Community School, and Sophie’s Superstars to achieve this aim, was dismissed by the Labour Cabinet, which said it was not in a position to consider the proposals and blamed it on cuts.

How can Government cuts affect a plan which had no cost implication to the council, other than its wish to sell the town hall and old technical college building for housing, then pocket the estimated receipts of £1 million to spend on refurbishing Wigan Town Hall?

Cllr Norman Bradbury Hillside Avenue Atherton