MADAM, With reference to the article that appeared in the Ross Gazette on October 27th, the following points are worth bearing in mind within the context of the development.
The decision to relocate the Herefordshire Customer Services section from Swan House to the library has always been fundamental to the scheme. Considerable consultation around this was undertaken with both staff and the community, and the original plan to accommodate the services was to involve the construction of an extension to the rear of the library.
With the change to the financial circumstances of local authorities following the economic crisis affecting the whole country, a decision was made to scale down the scheme while still trying to accommodate the key features included in the original consultation.
Included in this revised view of the scheme was the idea of including the adjacent Register Office as part of the overall footprint for the site in order to assist with the provision of meeting space.
Library staff, the Library Development Group and the management of the register service have been included in consultation and informed about the necessary change to the scheme.
A team meeting was held with Ross library staff on August 25th, at which the changes to the plans were explained and comments were taken at that meeting.
The development will include the Customer Services functions, a Dennis Potter exhibition space, meeting space, improved disabled access and investment in the library service in order to maintain the standard of that excellent service. There will be no children's activities held in the Registry Office.
Andrew Tector, Head of Special Projects, Herefordshire Council