CONTENTIOUS plans on the future of Darlington’s library services were described as “fatally flawed” as councillors debated the issue.

A meeting of Darlington Borough Council’s Efficiency and Resources Scrutiny Committee saw members vote to continue with the process of approving strongly opposed proposals despite significant concerns being raised.

As part of a programme of swingeing budget cuts, the council plans to close the town’s mobile library service, hand Cockerton Library over to volunteers to run and close the historic Crown Street Library while transferring most of its resources to the Dolphin Centre.

Recently, Tory councillors demanded further scrutiny of the plans, prompting a call-in of the proposals which took place at this morning's (Tuesday, January 31) meeting.

Councillor Charles Johnson, who led the call-in, put a number of questions to the committee relating to the predicted costs of the town’s main library remaining at Crown Street.

He also asked for further risk analyses of the proposed amalgamation of the library and Dolphin Centre to be conducted and raised concerns about the future of the historic building.

Councillors Nick Wallis and Steven Harker reiterated their stance on the estimated savings they believe will result from the amalgamation of services, said to be around £310,000 a year.

However, Cllr Alan Coultas claimed the savings would only amount to £147,000 a year, when compared with the £163,000 savings that would result from keeping the library at Crown Street.

Cllr Coultas, who described the plans as fatally flawed, said: “The numbers are marginal in the grand scheme of things and you have not convinced me yet that the savings are robust enough to take this risk.”

In response, Cllr Harker said: “The amount of savings the council has to make is unbelievable and if there is a difference between two proposals, from a financial perspective, we would clearly propose the one that saves more money in the end.”

The significant costs that could be incurred as a result of a future judicial review and as a result of delays to the proposals were also debated.

A number of councillors expressed concern about the future of the Grade II listed Crown Street building and the costs associated with maintaining it if the library services are moved.

The council’s director of resources, Paul Wildsmith, admitted the costs of maintaining the building until a future use is agreed could be as much as £47,000 a year, not £23,000 as initially estimated.

Mr Wildsmith said he was confident that the building, if sold by the council, would attract interest quickly but said any decisions about the building’s future could not be made until the plans to relocate the library service are approved.

A deciding vote on the plans will be held at an upcoming meeting of Darlington’s full council, with the date yet to be confirmed.