DARLINGTON Borough Council now plans to retain control of a second library and is expected to scrap plans to hand it to volunteers to run.

For several years, the future of Cockerton Library has been uncertain, with the facility earmarked for closure in 2012 but given a stay of execution following a public campaign.

In 2016, it was included in plans to cut and change library services, with Darlington Borough Council proposing to transfer the running of the facility to the volunteer-led Cockerton Library Cooperative.

The Cockerton proposals were part of a strategy that led to the axing of the town’s mobile library service and that also allowed for the closure of the historic Crown Street Library.

Earlier this year, newly instated council leader Stephen Harker announced that DBC would revise its decision on Crown Street and pledged to keep a library service there.

New plans have now been put forward that would see the council retaining control of Cockerton Library after the volunteer group withdrew from its role.

If it is approved by the council, the decision would see the authority reinstate a £280,000 budget for the library over four years. The £38,000 in savings anticipated as a result of the council adopting a volunteer-led model is expected to be balanced via savings in other areas of the authority’s Medium Term Financial Plan.

The move was welcomed by the former chair of the Cockerton Library Cooperative, John Whitehouse. He said he had stepped down after hearing Crown Street would be saved, confident that the council would increase its support for Cockerton Library.

Mr Whitehouse said: “My view was that the group would be defunct as the council’s decision on the library proposals had almost completely changed.

“It is great that the council has decided to keep control of it and keep it open – I got involved because I could see the library’s potential and what could happen to Cockerton if it was not there. It plays a big role in bringing people into the area and means a lot to people in the community.

“We have been on with this for years now and I’m just pleased that the council has realised how important this service is to the community.”

Councillor Nick Wallis, cabinet member for leisure and local environment, said the authority running the library was the best way to guarantee its future.

He added: “Cockerton is a key part of our library service and nothing will change as far as the people who use it are concerned. “The financial implications of the council continuing to run Cockerton library are accounted for in the MTFP. Because of some of the difficult financial decisions the council has already taken, we are now in a position to continue to run Cockerton library.”

Darlington’s MP, Jenny Chapman, praised campaigners who fought to protect their library services and said: “What has been made clear in recent years is that Darlington’s community values its libraries.

“Now the question is about how to ensure users of the library are fully involved in decisions made about the future of the service and how it can be made better.

“I’m glad that something good has come out of all of this and that is that library users got themselves organised and articulated what they expect from the service more coherently than in the past.

“That should be something the council sees as a benefit and they should work cohesively together to get the best possible service.”