A ROW has broken out over Bedworth Heath Library’s move to a new home, with the Labour party calling it “a dishonest con trick”. The library was forced to close its doors at its former premises in Smarts Road as Warwickshire County Council slashed £2 million from its library budget. It has now been resurrected at the community centre in Smorrall Lane. But Brian Hawkes, chairman of the North Warwickshire and Bedworth Labour Party, believes that more could have been done to keep the Smarts Road facility open. He said: “I live in this area and I am appalled that the Conservative councillors - none of whom live in this ward - voted to close our local library at the junction of Smarts Road and Heath Road. “This library is a much-loved resource for many families. Children and pensioners in particular rely on it. We paid taxes for the library over many years, we live in a community with few other facilities and taking our library away is wrong. “They say they have to make cuts but these same councillors agreed to give £1 million to rebuild a farmer’s cow shed in north Warwickshire while closing our library. They have a weird sense of priorities. “But what really annoyed me was that the Conservatives had the gall to issue a press release congratulating them for saving the library, by closing it. They call it a replacement honesty library. It amounts to little more than a row of bookshelves with no librarian or other library facilities. “It is a fig leaf for library closure. They voted to close it and then pretended it was not closed. I think the honesty library is a dishonest con trick. “But even worse, they then informed us that the Conservatives are testing our honesty in this community. If their stunt does not work then it seems local people are to blame for closure of the honesty library because we are not honest enough. “The reality is that as long as our old library building stands empty, it will be a daily reminder to people who live in Bedworth Heath of the price of we pay for these Tory councillors.” His words have been rejected by Tory councillor Damon Brown, who represents Bedworth Heath on Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council and led the bid to move the library to its new home. He said: “I am disappointed, but not surprised, by the view taken by the local Labour party over this issue. They are of course entitled to their opinion even if it is wrong and flies in the face of all of the facts. The facts are straightforward - the library service for Warwickshire had to save money because of the way the last Labour Government ruined the national economy. “Bedworth Heath Library was the second least used in the county and was only open a couple of days a week and served only a handful of users. Next to no-one attended the public consultation meeting to look at the future of the library. Significantly, none of the five Labour councillors who live in Bedworth Heath attended that meeting. “In the months since the consultation meeting, I have worked with our local MP Dan Byles and volunteers from the Bedworth Heath Community Centre to put together a successful bid to relocate the library service to the community centre. All in all the new service will house a smaller library but it will be open more often and be better sited to serve the people of Bedworth Heath.” | 
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