Fury at cuts to libraries' open hours (From Thurrock Gazette)

Labour 10% cuts in public spending means 10% less for local authorities to spend!

In reply to Don above. That maybe the case with a 10% cut but it doesn't excuse the underhand trick that the councillor pulled.

has the lady in this story lost her job or is she working 9-5. if she is working 9-5 how can she be using the the library which opens at 9 for hours? Also isnt it better to for them all to start later rather than one to close completely no matter where it is?

What did you Thurrock voters expect, the Thurrock Conservative councillors are only looking after their own interest as you would expect them to do, and this should be a warning shot regarding the new Thurrock (Tory) paper, it would also reflect the same, Tory propgander and more costly pages full of Bull****.

Let’s stick with our Thurrock Gazette, the only Thurrock resident’s paper that is unbiased and can be trusted.

Question to the Labour Party.
Would they scrap the new paper if they took over administration in Thurrock?

This story is confusing.
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Labour state only Libraries in Labour areas will shut.
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Conservative Cabinet member states all Libraries will open at 10am instead of 9am.
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Who is telling the truth? And when the truth comes out will it be accurately reported?
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Bask in August it was reported in the Gazette that Blackshots, East Tilbury and Corringham Libraries would close for half a day.
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Thats 1 library in a tory ward, one in a labour ward and 1 in an independent ward!
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Now Labour claim only Libraries in Labour wards will shut while the Tories state every Library will open at 10am instead of 9am.
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As I have already said who is really telling the truth here - and who is trying to score some cheap political points by spinning to grab some newspaper headlines!
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What is the real truth here and will the real truth be given the same amnount of publicity?

The August report said Blackshots, East Tilbury and Aveley would close for half a day - I think that's 2 Conservative and 1 Independent. Closing those small libaries for half a day would surely be less damaging than cutting across the board so it does sound like a case of NIMBY. At least the bigger libraries should be open from 9.00 for students and others who need morning access. Much bigger savings could be made without cutting services by dropping the proposed Council newspaper.

joeconrad wrote:
The August report said Blackshots, East Tilbury and Aveley would close for half a day - I think that's 2 Conservative and 1 Independent. Closing those small libaries for half a day would surely be less damaging than cutting across the board so it does sound like a case of NIMBY. At least the bigger libraries should be open from 9.00 for students and others who need morning access. Much bigger savings could be made without cutting services by dropping the proposed Council newspaper.

Thankyou for the correction.

I was trying to remember from my memory!

Frankly this is non-story/problem.
How many people would be knocking on the door of a library at 9am? Not many and no "students" because they should be in school/college.

This has been typical of the sort of BS that Labour need to trot out on a regular basis. But I wonder how many times did they indirectly favour Labour wards or wards they wanted to win over?

It does not matter what the council do to the libaries throughout the borough, The fact they are saving £53,000 is the main priority. This money can be used for so many other different ventures, The new Newsletter's staff will need furnishings for there new offices. A tea lady/gent maybe, Private cars to usher them around Thurrock. Perhaps if they need more money they could cut another service. I said this a few months ago and i say it again. it does not matter which party is in office, they are all only interested in themselves, the residents of our borough are only thought of when it is election time. If we all left behind this Labour, Conservative culture i am sure this borough would benefit. The one issue the main popular parties share is that none of them are really fit to run this borough, we need to find an alternative, otherwise we will be reading and commenting for years to come. I know i am dreaming but i tire of seeing cuts to various services just so a few pounds can be saved only to be wasted on something else. We have had conservatives running this borough before, so why did they not close the Libaries for a few hours, why did they not waste a cool half a million pounds on a newsletter, why suddenly now do we need this, why has the Thurrock Gazette which has served us all and yet remaining unbiased for decades suddenly need a rival. I work in London, These free newspapers rely on advertising revenue to be able to continue. Recently the London paper closed as it could not compete against the London "Lite" and the Evening Standard which cost 50p. Now the Evening Standard is free as it would not be able to compete with it's competitor. Will the same happen here? If we lost the Gazette to a council newsletter we would lose a very valuable newspaper. Its time to change the way we vote.

It does not matter what the council do to the libaries throughout the borough, The fact they are saving £53,000 is the main priority. This money can be used for so many other different ventures, The new Newsletter's staff will need furnishings for there new offices. A tea lady/gent maybe, Private cars to usher them around Thurrock. Perhaps if they need more money they could cut another service. I said this a few months ago and i say it again. it does not matter which party is in office, they are all only interested in themselves, the residents of our borough are only thought of when it is election time. If we all left behind this Labour, Conservative culture i am sure this borough would benefit. The one issue the main popular parties share is that none of them are really fit to run this borough, we need to find an alternative, otherwise we will be reading and commenting for years to come. I know i am dreaming but i tire of seeing cuts to various services just so a few pounds can be saved only to be wasted on something else. We have had conservatives running this borough before, so why did they not close the Libaries for a few hours, why did they not waste a cool half a million pounds on a newsletter, why suddenly now do we need this, why has the Thurrock Gazette which has served us all and yet remaining unbiased for decades suddenly need a rival. I work in London, These free newspapers rely on advertising revenue to be able to continue. Recently the London paper closed as it could not compete against the London "Lite" and the Evening Standard which cost 50p. Now the Evening Standard is free as it would not be able to compete with it's competitor. Will the same happen here? If we lost the Gazette to a council newsletter we would lose a very valuable newspaper. Its time to change the way we vote.

kbatts wrote:
It does not matter what the council do to the libaries throughout the borough, The fact they are saving £53,000 is the main priority. This money can be used for so many other different ventures, The new Newsletter's staff will need furnishings for there new offices. A tea lady/gent maybe, Private cars to usher them around Thurrock. Perhaps if they need more money they could cut another service. I said this a few months ago and i say it again. it does not matter which party is in office, they are all only interested in themselves, the residents of our borough are only thought of when it is election time. If we all left behind this Labour, Conservative culture i am sure this borough would benefit. The one issue the main popular parties share is that none of them are really fit to run this borough, we need to find an alternative, otherwise we will be reading and commenting for years to come. I know i am dreaming but i tire of seeing cuts to various services just so a few pounds can be saved only to be wasted on something else. We have had conservatives running this borough before, so why did they not close the Libaries for a few hours, why did they not waste a cool half a million pounds on a newsletter, why suddenly now do we need this, why has the Thurrock Gazette which has served us all and yet remaining unbiased for decades suddenly need a rival. I work in London, These free newspapers rely on advertising revenue to be able to continue. Recently the London paper closed as it could not compete against the London "Lite" and the Evening Standard which cost 50p. Now the Evening Standard is free as it would not be able to compete with it's competitor. Will the same happen here? If we lost the Gazette to a council newsletter we would lose a very valuable newspaper. Its time to change the way we vote.

or do what we used to do with the Gazette before it went free, pay 20 pence for it, I certainly would.

One in five homes don't get the Gazette.

Hi Karen29, Yes you are right, i used to get it posted through my door but the distribution team at the Gazette chose to cut down the number of issues printed, therefore some roads get it posted and some do not. The Gazette state that i can still buy it in the newsagents.

kbatts wrote:
Hi Karen29, Yes you are right, i used to get it posted through my door but the distribution team at the Gazette chose to cut down the number of issues printed, therefore some roads get it posted and some do not. The Gazette state that i can still buy it in the newsagents.

The circulation figures can be found in the front of the Gazette. One question nobody has asked is should the Council be placing statutory notices, planning notices, job adverts, advertisments for Thameside Theatre, First Choice Housing etc when they only reach 80% of households in Thurrock?
Or could this money be used for the council to distribute their own information instead to 100% of homes?

Its not the content or the percentage of readers that concerns me, its the amount of money that this publication is going to cost everyone in Thurrock. It was never needed before so why now, we do have various information leaflets posted through our doors, and i feel those are sufficient. There are many area's within Thurrock where extra resources could be used, its the wrong time for this type of venture.

kbatts wrote:
Its not the content or the percentage of readers that concerns me, its the amount of money that this publication is going to cost everyone in Thurrock. It was never needed before so why now, we do have various information leaflets posted through our doors, and i feel those are sufficient. There are many area's within Thurrock where extra resources could be used, its the wrong time for this type of venture.

I thought (I might be wrong) that the cost would be covered by diverting the money spent on advertising in newspapers to printing their own information instead. The council has yet to robustly put their case for this in the public arena and the argument so far has been one sided without a fair crack of the whip by the other side. Without the council putting out their own defence or providing their own costings it is difficult to make a really informed decision on wether it will be a good or bad thing. My first reaction is that it is a bad thing as it is spending money but I have yet to hear the councils side of the story.

I agree with Kbatts Aveley 100%

You know what, Tom.t of Tilbury sounds very much like a Kerry I know. The characteristics are remarkably similar

Sorry you got my name wrong Nye, my name is Simon.

Not only are our Thurrock services being squeezed, and the Tory Thurrock administration want to introduce a propaganda news paper, would the paper have told us about a Tilbury mother could not get her young children into a Tilbury school of her choice where she lives? I don’t think so

Check out BBC 25 October 2009

Some Parents in Harrow Middlesex are taking desperate measures and committing fraud by lying on school placement application forms so that they can get their children in top Harrow and surrounding area schools.
A spokes person for Harrow said this scam will not be tolerated and offenders will be prosecuted.

Some Thurrock Parents cannot get their school placements for their children in school areas where they live in Thurrock why is this?

What is Thurrock Council doing about this?

Tom.t wrote:
Sorry you got my name wrong Nye, my name is Simon. Not only are our Thurrock services being squeezed, and the Tory Thurrock administration want to introduce a propaganda news paper, would the paper have told us about a Tilbury mother could not get her young children into a Tilbury school of her choice where she lives? I don’t think so Check out BBC 25 October 2009 Some Parents in Harrow Middlesex are taking desperate measures and committing fraud by lying on school placement application forms so that they can get their children in top Harrow and surrounding area schools. A spokes person for Harrow said this scam will not be tolerated and offenders will be prosecuted. Some Thurrock Parents cannot get their school placements for their children in school areas where they live in Thurrock why is this? What is Thurrock Council doing about this?

tom if you had kids you would know it is not down to the council to get them into local schools as all the schools in thurrock run their own placement schemes. this is because the labour thought everyone should have a choice but didnt realise that they would all apply for the best schools not the local one. but if the gazette run everything the council had to tell and what it gets right (not often but it does) you would be complaining it is a propaganda paper for the tories. so its lose lose for the council either way