'Why Tom Hunt is a loss to his ward - and what his replacement needs to do next' - Reader's letter
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Letter writer Matthew Smith on the library situation in Walkley and Upperthorpe...
Tom Hunt is a loss to Sheffield Council, and as someone who is totally against a lot of the things that Labour have done in Sheffield I cannot believe for a moment that I am actually saying that.
Tom was if nothing else very approachable and actively maintained a presence in the ward, happily fielding complaints and queries from residents.
His Green replacement on the council has already made his disdain for the opinions of local residents apt in his approach to discussions regarding the area, committing only to meeting with established groups such as the cliques of volunteers running the area's two branch libraries.
Mr Davies can take this as an open letter to organise a community meeting for everyone in the area to discuss the challenges and future of the area's library service, the staffed council version of which was withdrawn just over a decade ago.
While the volunteers have done an excellent job keeping the buildings open as library self service points and community centres, the libraries at Upperthorpe and Walkley merit bringing back into council control with staff, not least because of the high number of children with English as an additional language in Upperthorpe - something which merits extra investment in things like libraries, and the fact that Walkley Carnegie Library is not eligible for the funding used to refurbish it's sister library at Wombwell (the only Carnegie Library still in use as a council library in South Yorkshire) as it was transferred out of council control just over a decade ago.
Mr Davies and his Green colleagues on the council have been made aware of the issues facing branch libraries since the volunteer takeover but have always avoided taking any action or starting an actual dialogue with library users, the majority of whom want and deserve a staffed library service.
If he truly represents the area Mr Davies will be organising a petition and campaign to have a staffed library service reinstated at Walkley and Upperthorpe Libraries.