The Labour Party in Croydon

Labour: fighting for you across Croydon and Sutton

 

Upper Norwood Joint Library under threat

For four years Upper Norwood Joint Library has been starved of vital resources and undermined by Croydon's Conservative administrations, who have placed the future of the library under question.

Labour candidates in South Norwood, Jane Avis, Kathy Bee and Wayne Lawlor have assured the Upper Norwood Joint Library Campaign that we will do everything we can to secure the independence of the library, fight to ensure that at the very least we match the funding the library receives from Lambeth.

Labour candidate Jane Avis said, "I have supported the Upper Norwood Library for 12 years, and will continue to ensure that the library is fully resourced and expanded. The Conservative administration in Croydon need to pay for their new £450 million HQ, and frankly are not being honest about their commitment to funding the library. Rather than giving peace of mind to the Upper Norwood Joint Library Campaign Committee, they are using it as a political football."

Labour candidate Wayne Lawlor said, "Having done some work with staff at the library when I worked for the Amicus trades union, I am aware of the constant reassurances that the Upper Norwood Joint Library Campaign Committee has sought from the Conservative administration in Croydon, and the threat of changes to their terms and conditions of employment, linked to funding. For four years the Campaign Committee has sought assurances from the Conservative Party and their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Conservatives have not fully supported the library but have undermined the library and its staff at every stage. They cannot spin their way out of this one."

Labour candidate Kathy Bee said, "How surprising it is that only days before the council elections, and South Norwood Conservatives finally want to discuss the issue of funding and the continued independence of the library. South Norwood Conservatives could not even get their own Mayor, Boris Johnson, to reinstate the tram extension from South Norwood to Crystal Palace, so how can they pretend to give any assurances about Upper Norwood Joint Library? The fact is they have failed and only Labour council in Croydon can secure the library's future.”