Row Over Cash For Library

A row’s blown up after Desborough Councillors agreed to give £150,000 to a charity which is hoping to buy the town’s library.

An extraordinary general meeting was held last week to decide whether Desborough Town Council should hand over the cash to Desborough Library and Community Hub – the charity set up to take over control of the library.

Northamptonshire County Council is disposing of a number of its libraries as part of cost-cutting measures – and wants £270,000 for the High Street building.

Ten of the twelve councillors voted to give £120,000 to the charity to help it purchase the library – plus another £30,000 for the first years’ running costs.

However, the fact that the majority of the Desborough Councillors are also trustees of the library charity has led to one resident complaining there’s a conflict of interest.

Kettering Borough Council’s monitoring officer has now commissioned an investigation – to check if all the correct procedures were followed.