CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating tonight at the news that plans to close Goodmayes Library were shelved.

The plans which were to save �191,000 as part of Redbridge Council’s 2011/12 budget cuts, have provoked dismay and protests in and around Goodmayes.

And although councillors at first stood firm, it bowed to pressure to perform the u-turn in the nick of time – just four days before it was due to become a firm part of the budget at Redbridge Council’s Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sue Nolan told The Recorder she has decided to withdraw the budget option to close Goodmayes Library, in Goodmayes Lane.

“I have attended a number of meetings to discuss our budget proposals and as with last year I have listened to the community, I believe that there are alternative ways of providing the services in Goodmayes Library and I now look to the community to help deliver this valued service,” she said.

“There has been much talk about how we should provide the service in a different way and we are talking to other neighbouring Boroughs in relation to shared services but would welcome any initiatives that the community would also like me to consider.”

The news is likely to bring joy to campaigners who have opposed the closure with protests and a petitionand who last week crammed into the nearest available library, Seven Kings, in High Road to “prove” that it would not be able to cope with the closure.

Council figures show Goodmayes Library, a 464 square metre building, is the fifth most used of the 13 branches in Redbridge, with 103,000 visitors last year.

However with an unprecedented drop in income from the government this coming financial year, councillors will have to find somewhere else to save the money from.

What do you think of the u-turn? Leave your comment in the box below or email newsdesk@ilfordrecorder.co.uk.