It is not often I write to newspapers to accuse politicians of not telling the truth. However, I was very disappointed by the letter from Cllr Jack Scott on 9th March and feel the need to reply to his statements.
First, he states that respected Chairman of the Hallamshire Historic Buildings Society, Howard Greaves, alleged “the council are seeking to demolish” the Central Library building. This is completely untrue. Howard confirmed he made no such allegation in his letter dated March 15th.
Cllr Scott goes on to mislead the public by stating the Library “desperately needs £30 million worth of repairs.” In fact, the £30m figure comes from a 2014 report and for the cost of a major refurbishment. The repairs-only cost is £2 million, a very different sum.
Cllr Scott’s comments on the Green Party are also plain wrong. For the record, we have been clear that we want to see the library preserved but we can’t comment on proposals we haven’t seen. The Green Councillors are fully committed to well-resourced public libraries. In our fully-balanced budget amendment, we proposed to reverse Labour’s cut to 3.5 full-time library jobs.
Douglas Johnson,
Green Party Councillor for City Ward
Read more:
Cllr Jack Scott’s letter, ‘New Library will be in the heart of the city’ (Sheffield Star)
Howard Greave’s letter, ‘Philistines not strong enough for council’ (Sheffield Star)