Mayor Greg Williamson said council had heard residents’ concerns about a plan to repurpose the Gordon White Library as a community centre, with a limited library service.
But he said council was also committed to delivering a financially responsible budget that kept downward pressure on rates increases.
“We’ve had about 800 survey responses and there are about 1500 signatures on a petition from locals, and those responses are mostly telling us what they value about Gordon White Library,” Mayor Williamson said.
“Overwhelmingly, it has been families that have responded and told us that Gordon White is a meeting place for them to socialise and support the early development of their children,” he said.
“With that in mind, we are exploring options around how we can still keep those services that people value so highly and retain a library facility at Gordon White.”
CEO Gerard Carlyon said councillors were working through three options ahead of the Special Budget Meeting on June 29.
“Option one is where we consolidate our libraries on the north side and includes a minimal increase in cost to ratepayers,” Mr Carlyon said.
“It would see us transfer the majority of library services from Gordon White Library to the Northern Beaches Community Hub Library,” he said.
“Option two is a compromise based on residents’ feedback – we keep a library facility at Gordon White and prioritise the services the community is telling us they value most.
“We would then explore models where we could operate all our libraries, including the Northern Beaches, without any major staff increases but with some reduction of service across the branches.
“This would likely include some reduced operating hours and more strategic delivery of programming, but it would reduce the increased rate burden to about $1 million.”
“The third model is to keep both services (Gordon White and the Northern Beaches) at full capacity, which would have about a $2.2 million annual impact on rate payers.
“Our executive leadership team, in conjunction with staff, will work through these models as we approach the Budget Meeting so that councillors can make a decision that best suits the residents of the Mackay region.”
For more information, head to connectingmackay.com.au