A COUNCILLOR has stressed that Cockerton Library will close its doors to the public in 2016 due to budget cuts, unless a community group is formed to take it over.

The popular library was earmarked for closure as part of a raft of measures being considered by Darlington Borough Council as the authority looks to save £13.6m from its budget in the next three years.

The council has said it can afford to subsidise Cockerton Library, which costs £40,000 a year to run, and the Head of Steam Museum, which receives £260,000 each year, until 2016 but beyond that, unless they are taken over, the two facilities will close.

Cockerton Library was previously threatened with closure in 2012, but a campaign by local residents and a Friends of Cockerton Library group earned it a last minute reprieve, albeit with reduced opening hours.

The Friends group later largely disbanded, with its members saying they were frustrated at the lack of opportunities given to them by the council to make changes to the way the facility operated.

At a meeting of Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet earlier this week, Councillor Nick Wallis, who oversees leisure and local environment, said the authority had ‘no option’ to withdraw funding from Cockerton Library.

He said: “We know that local authorities have to find ways to work with community groups so that facilities can be provided through partnership working. Now is an opportunity for people who care about Cockerton Library to come forward and work with us.

“It is important for the vitality of the centre of Cockerton and we have to see if it can be provided in a different way.”

A member of the public who attended the meeting questioned Coun Wallis and said the £40,000 subsidy for Cockerton Library was “almost trivial” in relation to the authority’s overall budget.

He added: “If you make efficiencies surely you can cover £40,000?”

Coun Wallis replied: “There are small amounts of savings that have been made across the council in the last two years - £2,000 or £1,000 – and they all add up to significant sums of money.

“There is a gaping chasm in the revenue that we need to run essential services. We need to prioritise services for older and vulnerable people.”