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Speaker 1: Yesterday I mentioned on the show that the Litchfield Council

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Speaker 1: has reportedly passed a motion to relocate the to mid

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Speaker 1: Min Community Library to call A Linga Central. It's understood

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Speaker 1: the decision was made at the council's March eighteen meeting.

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Speaker 1: That decision approved in a four to three vote. Now

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Speaker 1: joining me in the studio is the Mayor of Litchfield,

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Speaker 1: Doug Barden. Good morning to.

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Speaker 2: You, Doug, Good morning Katie, and good morning listeners.

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Speaker 1: Good to have you on the show. So, Doug, is

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Speaker 1: this a done deal? Is the library moving?

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Speaker 2: I believe it is. I believe, I believe it's a

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Speaker 2: dune deal. I'm basically here to let the public know

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Speaker 2: of council's decision to move the library from tim mid

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Speaker 2: Min to call A Linga where the old River's Store was,

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Speaker 2: which is closed up.

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Speaker 1: So, Doug, is it It sounds like it was a

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Speaker 1: tight vote from the look of things, four to three.

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Speaker 1: I mean, is it something that you wanted to happen.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it was a four to three vote. I vote

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Speaker 2: it against it. We're in a democratic is democracy. Unfortunately

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Speaker 2: my opinion wasn't the popular opinion, and that's the way

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Speaker 2: it is.

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Speaker 1: I mean, so as a man, now you're having to

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Speaker 1: obviously let people know that this is a decision that's

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Speaker 1: been made by counsel. What is that like, what's the

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Speaker 1: reason for the move.

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Speaker 2: The main reason is that the council believes that it's

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Speaker 2: it's a that that it will be better. The social

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Speaker 2: value generated by increased library usage will be will be better.

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Speaker 2: They believe that there will be a one and a

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Speaker 2: half million dollar social net social value gain around around

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Speaker 2: one point five million. They believe that the tim minman

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Speaker 2: wasn't up to scratch and the toilets won't compliant, restricted

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Speaker 2: access due to school hours and security measures, limited visibility

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Speaker 2: and community of awareness, inconvenience location for the broader community.

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Speaker 2: It's all in this three page document that was given

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Speaker 2: the council, which council I saw face value.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I saw a bit of it, Doug, And you know,

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Speaker 1: like I I, you know, I sort of looked at

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Speaker 1: it and thought, oh, hang on a secon this seems

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Speaker 1: like a really quite unexpensive move, is what it seems

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Speaker 1: like it's going to be. I can understand, you know,

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Speaker 1: what they're saying in terms of you know, needing toilet access,

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Speaker 1: needing you know, needing sort of greater hours I'm guessing

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Speaker 1: to be able to access the library all that kind

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Speaker 1: of thing. But how much is the move going to costs?

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Speaker 2: Well, according to this document, it's the fit out costs

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Speaker 2: are going to be three hundred and thirty seven thousand dollars.

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Speaker 2: Fit out and relocation costs, rent, utilities and extra staff

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Speaker 2: will be five hundred and thirty seven thousand dollars a year.

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Speaker 1: Wow, A billion bucks a year is that ray payers

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Speaker 1: are going to have.

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Speaker 2: To I mean, we've done a pretty good job in

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Speaker 2: keeping our finances up to scratch in Litchfield. We've done,

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Speaker 2: We've improved, we improved our well. I wouldn't says is

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Speaker 2: cost cutting? Yes, yes, I suppose other priorities will while

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Speaker 2: less will take higher priority than other priorities. Yes, Doug.

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Speaker 1: I mean I've had you on the show on different

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Speaker 1: occasions about different things, and you always front up, even

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Speaker 1: if it's a you know, it's a decision that you

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Speaker 1: know that people are having a crack at you on

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Speaker 1: this occasion, you're obviously you're not. It doesn't sound like

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Speaker 1: you're that keen for the for the council to have

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Speaker 1: to fork out three hundred and thirty seven thousand dollars

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Speaker 1: for the fit out and then the on going course.

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Speaker 1: I mean, do you think there was wide enough consultation

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Speaker 1: on this.

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Speaker 2: The consultation was less than This all came about, as

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Speaker 2: I'm reading from the paper that at the Ordinary Council

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Speaker 2: Meeting of the eighteenth of February, Councilor Wright requested that

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Speaker 2: administrative staff prepare a report outlining the merit of the

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Speaker 2: transitional move of Councilor's library from Tim Midman Humpty Do

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Speaker 2: to a least space at call A Lingas Central Shopping Center.

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Speaker 2: And then this paper was given to us less than

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Speaker 2: three weeks later. And so, yep, the consultation was less

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Speaker 2: than a month. Yep.

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Speaker 1: Well, Doug jerry Wood got in contact with me yesterday.

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Speaker 1: He said that consultation wasn't extensive. He reckons that people

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Speaker 1: were being asked two questions about it at the local

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Speaker 1: transfer station.

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Speaker 2: Is that the case, I believe, So I don't know.

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Speaker 2: I know that nobody was asked in Berry Springs based

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Speaker 2: transfers station, I know that. But anyway, you know, these

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Speaker 2: these things, these these think this is that that's the past.

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Speaker 2: We now have to look at the future.

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Speaker 1: So there's not an opportunity here that further consultation can

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Speaker 1: happen or anything like that. It's just like it's it

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Speaker 1: is what it is. It's going to have to go ahead,

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Speaker 1: I believe.

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Speaker 2: So. I feel sorry for the people that loved to

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Speaker 2: mind Men Community Library. You know, I mean the Facebook

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Speaker 2: has been going off off.

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Speaker 1: Do you think do you think people are supportive of

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Speaker 1: this move? I mean it sounds expensive. Do you think

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Speaker 1: people are supportive of this move?

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Speaker 2: I think you. I think they will be supportive, but

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Speaker 2: I think that they're disappointed that to Minmen is going

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Speaker 2: to close. And I think that there were other options

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Speaker 2: which weren't given to us.

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Speaker 1: Doug in terms of finding that, you know, extra half

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Speaker 1: a million bucks every year for the rent, the utilities,

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Speaker 1: et cetera. Are rate's gonna have to go up or

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Speaker 1: can you?

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Speaker 2: I don't believe so. I believe we'll just change our priorities.

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Speaker 2: I think is what Well. I don't believe rates will

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Speaker 2: go up. We have saved a lot of money with

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Speaker 2: the manage, with changing the management and of counsel over

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Speaker 2: the last four years, with structure, with operational structures and whatever.

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Speaker 1: So so, Doug, in terms of the Timmin Library, now,

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Speaker 1: I'm assuming it will still like it will it will

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Speaker 1: just be there now privately for the school.

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Speaker 2: For the school, I'm not sure. I don't know. I

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Speaker 2: tried to get in contact with the headmaster, but he

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Speaker 2: hasn't been He hasn't got back to me and the

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Speaker 2: school counsel. But nobody's got back to me yet.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, well, Doug, it does sound you know. I'm

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Speaker 1: sure we'll get some messages about this. As I said,

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Speaker 1: Jerry Wood got in contact with us yesterday about concerns

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Speaker 1: around what he described as a lack of consultation. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he said, how the staff out there at the Ways

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Speaker 1: transfer station really meant to be able to ask further questions?

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Speaker 1: He said it was basically two questions that we yes,

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Speaker 1: no questions, and there was no opportunity for people to

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Speaker 1: provide sort of any further detail. I mean, does that

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Speaker 1: Does that sound adequate to you?

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Speaker 2: Well? I know it doesn't, and I'm very disappointed that

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Speaker 2: nobody in Berry Springs was asked. And very Springs is

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Speaker 2: the closest place too, He's very close to. But anyway,

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Speaker 2: that's what do you do?

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Speaker 1: I mean, you feel like you sound like you're a

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Speaker 1: bit deflated by it, to be honest with you, as

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Speaker 1: the mayor.

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Speaker 2: Wells well, I mean as Con says, you know when

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Speaker 2: the when I remember Con talking about the roosters that

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Speaker 2: were making noises around and Con says, well, I didn't

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Speaker 2: vote for that, but the council did. And so this

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Speaker 2: is the this is exactly this thing. As as Con

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Speaker 2: doesn't get his way all the time, that the thing

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Speaker 2: you're so you've got a grin and Barrett and suck

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Speaker 2: it up.

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Speaker 1: So if anybody is after any further info, can they

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Speaker 1: jump online? Will be they be able to find it

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Speaker 1: on the Litchfield Council website, you know, if they want

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Speaker 1: to find out more about the library's move.

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Speaker 2: Well, I hope so. But I mean this all came this,

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Speaker 2: This was a surprise move to me on the eighteenth

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Speaker 2: of February. Yep, that we even decided even really even

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Speaker 2: decided even thinking about moving the library was the first

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Speaker 2: time I knew about it was the eighteenth of February.

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Speaker 1: Who sort of sprung it on you that.

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Speaker 2: It was brought up at a council meeting? It can

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Speaker 2: ye at a council meeting under public questions? Yep? Yep?

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Speaker 1: Well all right, well I'll be really keen to hear

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Speaker 1: our listeners' responses this morning, like we've you know, someone's

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Speaker 1: already messaged through Andrew and Herbert. He said that seems

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Speaker 1: like a lot of money, you know, And does anyone

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Speaker 1: other than the schools actually use libraries? Questions Andrew. I

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Speaker 1: know that some people do. Somebody else has said, you know,

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Speaker 1: they think it's a good idea. It means that everybody

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Speaker 1: will be able to access it. So I suppose opinions

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Speaker 1: are probably going to be a bit divide.

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Speaker 2: Well, they're going to be very divided. I mean, what's

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Speaker 2: the school going to do with the library? I mean

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Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know who owns the books,

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Speaker 2: and I don't know who owns the books, who owns

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Speaker 2: the shelving. There's I've been sent emails from past past

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Speaker 2: school council on the committee committee members and they also

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Speaker 2: everybody seems to have a different story.

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Speaker 1: So even that's going to be interesting now to find

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Speaker 1: out further whether you know who all the books belong to. Otherwise,

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Speaker 1: is the council going to have to be stocking everything

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Speaker 1: within that library that moves to cool Linger Central? I

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Speaker 1: mean they're just a couple of questions.

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Speaker 2: Well, I just hope that these costings are three hundred

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Speaker 2: and thirty seven thousand dollars for the relocation is correct.

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Speaker 1: Yep, yep, Doug, mate, I really appreciate your time, appreciate

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Speaker 1: you coming into the studio this morning and let us

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Speaker 1: know what else you're here. I think it'll be one

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Speaker 1: to keep an eye.

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Speaker 2: Well, yes, yep, I'm sure that your listeners will let

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Speaker 2: you know.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure they will. So good on your don No,

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Speaker 1: thanks mate, thanks so much,