Commenting on the decision Cllr Marcus Franks (Executive member for Culture & Leisure) said: “This is good news for the people of Wash Common and south Newbury. The Conservatives pledged that when we gained control of the Council we would provide a permanent library for the people of Wash Common, so I am happy to be honouring that promise. The new library will provide a service for many residents in south Newbury who live a long way from Newbury town centre, so it fits in with the new administration’s commitment to locally accessible services. The Community Centre was chosen because people are used to using the site and it is central to the local community. The intention is to use space in the community centre, and detailed work will now get underway on how best to make this option work. I am grateful for the interest shown by the Wash Common Community Association and look forward to working with them on this project. A happy by-product of the new branch library is that rural areas will also get back the mobile library stops that were removed when Wash Common library was shut – it’s a genuine win-win situation.”

Cllr Graham Jones (Leader of the Council) also welcomed the scheme, commenting: “I am pleased that provision of a permanent library is a step nearer reality. The Conservatives have campaigned for this from the day the Lib Dems announced their plans to shut the container library. I have to say that the continued opposition of the Lib Dems to a new library is startling. In particular the local Lib Dem ward members have badly let down their constituents with their lack of courage on this issue. They originally pledged to ‘do anything’ to save the library but then voted to close it. When we took control of the council I was told privately that they would support a new branch library, but now they have publicly opposed it again. Their argument that a further mobile library should be provided instead is incomprehensible. It would take a year to procure, only provide a fraction of the opening hours of a branch library and cost £80,000 a year. That’s four times the amount the Lib Dems claimed needed to be saved by closing the container! The Conservatives are pledged to provide a permanent library – after the residents had their container library wheeled away and used to store council paperwork it is the least they deserve.”