CONCERNS have been raised over a town council proposal to pour £15,000 of funding into Highbridge Library to keep it open, as councillors say other parishes should be consulted to see if they can put up funds.

At a Burnham and Highbridge town council meeting on Monday (July 2) councillors discussed proposals to fund the library should it be earmarked for closure.

The discussions come after the library’s future was put into jeopardy in a Somerset County Council (SCC) consultation earlier this year.

Councillor Andy Brewer said other parishes should be consulted to see if they could provide funds to keep the library open.

“I do agree that the we need to keep the library service in Highbridge but I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of agreeing to commit £15,000 to run it,” he said.

“We need to speak to other parishes to see if they would be interested in giving us funds to keep it going.”

Tatiana Cant, town clerk for Burnham and Highbridge Town Council, said the council had not yet committed any funds to save the library.

"Nothing has yet been quantified," Ms Cant said. 

John Fones from Save Highbridge Library Group said although he welcomes the council’s proposal he is concerned it is ‘too early’ for funding to be put up to save the facility.

“We are very pleased the town council has joined our campaign to help save the library,” Mr Fones said.

“Nevertheless we do feel very concerned that it is too early for the town council to be putting up funding when we haven’t had a decision from the county council yet.

“We feel Somerset County Council is going to be let off the hook by these proposals from the town council.”

But Cllr Peter Clayton said SCC does not have the funds to keep the library going.

“I don’t think it is too early, you either get support for the library or it will close,” Cllr Clayton said.

Councillors agreed to discuss the proposal at their next meeting, in September.