Campaigners win permission for second judicial review over library plans

A campaign group opposed to council plans to have volunteers run a south Wales library have been given permission to bring a second judicial review challenge.

The hearing is due to be held in October, the Save Rhoose Library Campaign said.

Vale of Glamorgan Council wants to save money by having Rhoose library run by volunteers rather than staffed full time.

The campaign group argues that this will give an unsatisfactory service with the facility open for shorter periods.

Save Rhoose Library said the council failed to provide sufficient information to justify its proposal, had issued misleading information about the role of volunteers when it surveyed opinion and had not properly assessed the impact of the proposal on school pupils and job seekers who relied on the library’s facilities.

The council did not respond to a request for comment.

Last year Mrs Justice Laing DBE dismissed an application by Save Rhoose Library for judicial review. Amongst other things the High Court judge concluded, on the basis of her construction of the decision taken by the council’s Cabinet on 9 March 2015, that in so far as this was a challenge to the closure of any library, it was premature. When the claim was issued, there was no such operative decision, she said.

Mark Smulian