Cllr accused of "bully boy tactics" over library threat tweets

Cllr Sean Woodward, Hampshire County Council's executive member for recreation and heritage and also the leader of Fareham Borough Council, is responsible for making the final decision on the future of Hampshire's libraries on Tuesday, which is expected to see Chineham stay open but South Ham and Odiham close.

However, on the eve of his big decision, he has been accused of "holding the gun to our head" by campaigners hoping that Chineham library will stay open.

Tweet controversy

The facility, in the district shopping centre, was initially listed by HCC as one of ten libraries that could be closed as part of plans to save £1.76 million from the library service.

However, last week it was announced that council officers are recommending that it stay open, as a result of looking again at the way they ranked the importance of their libraries.

And replying to a Tweet from Friends of Chineham Library (FOCL), a campaign group that has worked hard to make the case for why the facility should be saved from the cut, on Saturday that said they had "saved two [libraries] but the Hampshire County Council seem not to value a physical book over digital downloads", Cllr Woodward replied: "Not sure how you have 'saved two libraries'. I haven’t made any decisions on behalf of [HCC] yet. That will be next Tuesday and you will be welcome to make your deputations."

And the Tweet has sparked criticism from campaigners as well as members of the public.

Lucy Chaplin labelled the response as "inflammatory", whilst a Twitter user by the name of Mr Bee asked: "What kind of comment is this?"

And now, FOCL have hit out at the executive member, who say that their Tweet has made them worry that he was going to close down their beloved library.

"You would have hoped someone who has been in his role for that many years wouldn’t have put himself in that position," said Tracy Hinnigan, one of the campaigners.

"It was quite upsetting to be honest because the FOCL have been campaigning and we have been very lucky that we have got a good group of volunteers.

"When we found out last week that to our minds the library was safe, subject to rubber stamping, we have been excited by that.

"It does anger me that he is holding the gun to our head that it is his decision to make, we will have to wait and see which way it goes.

"It was a bit of a threat, he has the power to say yay or nay to this proposal. We though the library was safe so we are feeling a bit more anxious about Tuesday."

And their anger was reflected by Save Hampshire Libraries, who have been campaigning since January.

"We are pretty disgusted that an elected representative on is playing bully boy tactics with his constituents on such a valuable public service," a spokesperson told The Gazette.

"His threatening behaviour is not something we would expect from a seasoned elected representative."

Cllr Woodward told the Gazette: "The council report proposes not closing Emsworth Library in Havant. That is in South Hampshire and nowhere near Basingstoke.

"I have had a number of meetings with the Havant MP, Councillors and community groups in Havant.

"I have already given fulsome praise to The Friends of Chineham Library but for them to claim a role in Emsworth is bizarre.

"I have had meetings with a number of campaign groups all around Hampshire and exchanged correspondence with hundreds of people all of whose views I will take into account on Tuesday."