Since the Council meeting in March Goodwood Library has never been far from people’s minds.

Many in the community are convinced that Council is looking to close the Goodwood Library. Many are also of the belief that we intend to lease off the front section of the library. I have now been made aware that some also believe that we are about to close the Goodwood Community Centre.

There have been some quite pointed jibes at Council over this. There has also been a petition delivered to Council which I commented on in my blog post of 23 May.

It all started when the Eastern Courier incorrectly reported what had transpired at that Council meeting. They reported an observation on the night by one of our members, Deputy Mayor Bob Schnell, that the administration’s motion would ultimately mean the closure of Goodwood Library. I agreed with Bob. Whether or not that was the intention of our administration that was the likely consequence. But it was not what we approved notwithstanding what the Eastern Courier had to say.

At that meeting Council refused the proposed administration motion on reviewing our library services. We, the elected members of Council mindful that we must regularly review our services, drafted an entirely new motion. You can check my blog post of 8 April to see what we did direct admin to do.

At our meeting on Monday night coming Cr Luke Smolucha will be putting a motion on notice to further direct our administration on what to and what not to review. Whilst it is a motion that I will support it should not be necessary and I refer to my many blog posts on this top is for the reasons why, least of all yesterday’s blog post on a recent community survey we undertook.

His motion reads:

 “Council commits to maintaining the building facilities at Goodwood as a community hub, including a library service. No further action be taken to separate and lease out a portion of the building to a third party for commercial purposes.”

As Cr Smolucha has indicated that the purpose of his motion is to remove the fear that is beginning to ferment in the Goodwood community about the future of the Goodwood Library.

Administration I might add supports his motion believing  it brings clarity to the current situation at Goodwood Library.