A campaigner has said he is worried about the future of The Curve after Slough Borough Council said it was looking into cost-cutting measures that could include closure.

Preston Brooker started a ‘save The Curve’ petition after Conservative council leaders agreed to ‘explore’ finding alternative uses for the building – or even close it – to save £730,000 next year. Conservative councillors have since said the library is not at risk.

But Mr Brooker says he launched his petition to make sure it is protected. He told the Observer: “Slough is blessed. We have several libraries in Slough and as a community we need to protect them because if we don’t we can end up losing them.

“If this goes there won’t be anything in the centre of Slough for the kids, for the students and it will be really missed.”

Cost saving proposals first raised the possibility of closing The Curve when they were published in December last year.

The proposals say the council should ‘explore the closure or find alternative use of The Curve’. They suggest this could save £730,000 between April 2025 and April 2026.

Conservative councillors have since insisted that The Curve ‘is not for sale’. In a discussion on the Slough Today Facebook page councillor Siobhan Dauti said council leader Dexter Smith hopes to ‘encourage a university into The Curve’.

She said the library and performance space would still be open to the public under councillor Smith’s vision. And Paul Kelly, another leading Conservative councillor, said the closure of the library ‘has never been discussed’ at the council.

The Observer asked Slough Borough Council to clarify what options are being considered but has yet to receive a response. Councillor Smith could not be contacted for comment.

Preston Brooker and Slough Trades Union Council secretary Margery Thorogood campaigning to 'save The Curve' (Image: LDRS)

Mr Brooker – a former Labour borough councillor – was sceptical that a university or another provider might come in to run The Curve.

He said there’s no university in Slough and ‘I don’t think a private provider is going to want to run it because the biggest cost with something like this is the staff’.

He added that he hoped the petition would let council leaders know how much residents value the space.

Together with Slough Trades Union Council he thinks he might have collected 1,900 signatures to present to the council next month – although he’s hoping for 2,000.

He said: “The reason for the petition is we can say – go on, tell us what you’re actually going to do.

“I reckon we’ve got about 1,900 signatures so far but I’m hoping to get it up to 2,000 because the more we get the better.”