THE Hale Business Association has warned that the reduction of services at the village library would be ‘detrimental to the viability’ of future enterprise in the area.

In an open letter to Trafford Council, the association said borough authority proposals that include downsizing the facility to make room for residential homes are ‘driven by the potentially high value of the site for redevelopment’.

They point to the Government-commissioned ‘Portas Report’, that found high streets needed to retain ‘community hub’ regions to remain viable and vibrant.

The library is one of several across the borough facing an uncertain future, with Trafford Council bosses suggesting it would not close before 2017.

In a joint statement on behalf of the association, Gillian and Patrick Franks said: “This is not just scaremongering. The struggle faced by all the country's village and town high streets and how they can be bolstered has been much debated in recent years.

“The Portas Report came up with that the recommendation that if traditional high streets were to survive in this multi-channel retail age, then they needed not just shops and food outlets but community hubs of the very type that Hale's wonderful library provides right now.

“It seems perverse that this important diversity is now threatened by the body that is supposed to be supporting regeneration.”

A council spokesman said there was ‘no evidence to suggest that footfall will reduce following any potential closure of the library, which is only one out of the three potential options’.

They added that a council growth team survey found Hale to be faring better than the national average, with a 3.5 per cent town centre vacancy rate based on 144 properties, compared to the 11.8 per cent nationally.

There are three proposals on the table for Hale library, which will go before councillors on March 18:-

Sale of the current library site with a requirement for a replacement, smaller library, to be built on the existing site with residential homes on the remainder.

Sale of the current library site with a requirement to provide a new, permanent library to be built at no cost and on a freehold transfer within Hale village.

Sale of the current library site with a requirement to provide a temporary library for the period up to mid-2017, by which time it is envisaged that Altrincham’s new 8,000 sq ft library will have been built and opened in the market quarter, on a lease basis, rent and service charge free.