“As a cabinet, collectively this has been an incredibly tough decision to make. The Town Deal process means projects which will ultimately join together to regenerate the town have to be evaluated separately. This can make it difficult to see the benefit the proposals will bring when they all come together and weight these against alternative proposals and opposing views.

The fantastic proposals put forward for the waterfront area by the borough council this week, including a new public square, food hall, viewing tower and visitor centre as a gateway to the Washlands rely on the library relocating from its current site. This will be transformational for Burton, reconnecting the town with the river and creating a huge point of attraction to bring people into the town.

We recognise that many of those who responded to the public consultation are opposed to the loss of the Market Hall as a market however, the borough council which owns the building has already made it clear that it is unviable in its current form. They will make the final decision on how the building will be used in the future but clearly no change is not an option.

The debate in the town has moved on recently and even the alternative proposals for a food hall put forward by Burton Market Action Group would appear to displace the current market traders with no guarantee that it would safeguard the future of the building. The library relocation offers a reliable way of protecting this important heritage building and in response to feedback from the consultation rising concerns about alterations to the structure of the building the plans have been revised to avoid the need for major changes.

The Town Deal process still has some way to go before the plans are finalised but we are pleased that we are able to play our part in the regeneration and improvement of Burton town centre.”

Cllr Philip White, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills

“We have for many months now set out the reasons behind the proposed library move and conveyed these through our comprehensive public consultation and engagement programme. These include the ability to restore a valuable heritage building in the Market Hall and giving the building a secure long-term future. In addition, it would bring more people to Market Place outside, offering opportunities to new and existing businesses in what is currently an under-used part of the town centre. The proposals would allow us to effectively move other county council functions into the building and provide services for small businesses.

We have a strong track record in library service transformation and modernisation and aim to emulate the success of the projects in Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stafford which have proved hugely popular in those communities. We want to offer the same quality of facilities to the people of Burton

Relocating the library to the Market Hall will allow the county council to create a first-class modern library and community hub in an inspiring space. Our benchmark will be Lichfield Library which has won national attention for the quality of the library building and has acted as a catalyst for the regeneration of the wider area.

The eight-week consultation was a vital part of the decision-making process, enabling everyone to have their say. We carefully considered the feedback of around 1,500 people who responded either via the questionnaire or at one of the face-to-face opportunities. This represents around two per cent of the population of the town. Just over three-quarters of those who responded were opposed to the scheme and we have carefully considered the reasons they gave for doing so”.

Cllr Victoria Wilson, Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture