More than 2,000 people have signed a petition to ‘Save The Curve’ after fears were raised for its future.
Campaigner Preston Brooker launched the petition in May after Slough Borough Council spending plans raised the possibility of closing the library and culture venue. Council leaders have since insisted there are no plans to close The Curve and it will stay open to the public.
But the number of signatures on the petition means that councillors will now have to debate it at their next full meeting later this month. Mr Brooker told the Observer the petition was important when ‘across the country libraries are being closed left, right and centre’.
Slough Borough Council leaders agreed in budget proposals earlier this year to find ways to save £730,000 on running The Curve next year. Spending plans suggested the council should ‘explore the closure or find alternative use of The Curve’.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about what’s happening with The Curve
Mr Brooker, a former Labour councillor, responded by launching his petition in May this year. The petition called on the council ‘to reverse the decision to close The Curve’.
It said: “The Curve serves as a vital community building providing library services, study space, a facility for Slough museum, a performance space, and vital skills learning space.”
Slough Borough Council leader Dexter Smith then said last month that The Curve won’t close. But he said that the cost of running the building – which he says is £1 million a year – means the council can’t afford to keep running it the way it does now.
Conservative councillor Smith said he wants the council to keep The Curve but bring in a university as a private tenant to run it.
He said he’s had ‘three expressions of interest’ from higher education providers, including The University of West London which closed its Slough campus in 2010.
He added that this could mean some services at The Curve – such as the Register Office – could relocate, while public opening hours for the library and performance space could be cut.
Mr Brooker’s petition also demands that there ‘should be no break in service regardless of which organisation may become the new operator’.
The petition is now set to be debated at a full council meeting on September 26 after 2,192 people signed it – surpassing the 1,500-signature threshold to have it brought before councillors.
However Mr Brooker said he wouldn’t be able to present the petition to the meeting himself as he is due to chair a school governors’ meeting that same evening. He added that he was trying to arrange for a Labour councillor to speak in his place.
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