Eden District Council and Cumbria County Council are working together to improve services and secure jobs in Alston. The councils have merged the library and tourist information centre (TIC) to create Alston Local Links – a new multi-service customer centre. The Centre will be officially opened by the Chairman of Eden District Council Tony Brunskill and the Chairman of Cumbria County County Tom Clare on 23 September 2008.
This new facility is based in the Town Hall where a large section of the ground floor has been refurbished by Cumbria County Council, to accommodate it.
The benefits to Alston residents and visitors are:-
- A modern new library with improved facilities for children, teenagers and adults.
- Greater access to library services – previously open for around 12.5 hours per week.
- The new Local Links Centre will be open in excess of 30 hours per week – including some evenings.
- Increased flexibility of opening hours for the services. We are aiming to open the centre on Friday evenings which would be beneficial to the library and TIC services.
- Improved access to County Council and Eden District Council services. The District Council will shortly be creating a Contact Centre facility at Alston to achieve this.
- Access to photocopying, internet services and general council information at one central location.
- The new centre has improved the use of the Town Hall building and includes a newly refurbished meeting room with video conferencing facilities for the community to use.
- The future of the TIC and library service in Alston is more secure for the foreseeable future.
"The new joint arrangements are a real boost for the local community and visitors to Alston with improved access to services from both Councils and other agencies. We are delighted to be working so proactively with the County Council at a time when joint working between local authorities is under close scrutiny.
“We are committed to ensuring rural communities thrive and are not isolated by service reductions. We are delighted that the future provision of services at Alston is secure and that gives us and the local community a platform to building on for the future. Our dedicated officers are working hard to make the new arrangements a success,” said Councillor Glenys Lumley, Eden’s Economy Portfolio Holder.
The councils existing TIC and library staff are now working as one multi-disciplinary team, who have taken part in a bespoke training and development programme to familiarise themselves with each others services. Training on the new council services will be arranged in the autumn. In order to simplify the management of the staff, the amalgamated team will be managed by Linda Methven, Eden’s Customer Services Manager.
Cllr Barbara Cannon, Cumbria County Council’s acting portfolio holder for communities, said: “It is our duty to respond to the needs of local communities and in Alston this has been achieved by both councils working together.
“This is a real achievement by all the staff involved to create this shared service facility for Alston. This centre will give the public access to public services under one roof and allow the newly refurbished library service, which has invested in new stock, to be open for longer hours.”
To contact Alston Local Links Tel: (01434) 382244 or visit www.locallinks.org.uk (external link)
ENDS