Tempers stretched by library dispute

Labour and Conservative councillors crossed swords last night at the Erdington constituency meeting at St Barnabas School.
The arguments became heated as the parties exchanged blame for budget cut proposals that will reduce the opening hours of local libraries.
The nine councillors eventually agreed to reject plans to cut opening hours at Castle Vale and Erdington Libraries. One member of the public complained that proposed staffing hours for Castle Vale’s library were only slightly less than those proposed for Erdington, despite the fact that Erdington Library has 600 visitors per day, compared to the 80 visitors per day to Castle Vale Library.