A REQUEST for financial help following the collapse of the Subscription Library ceiling in Tavistock was last week turned down by the town council?s finance committee. The ceiling in the Grade II Listed building next to Tavistock Police Station fell down last month. Town council staff made the ceiling safe and cleared the room of debris, work which is estimated to have cost around £250, but members of the library say considerably more is required to repair the ceiling properly. John Gale, secretary of the library, said: ?We already have a quote for the cost of replacing the ceiling which is about £2,000. ?For us this is huge ? is there any hope that the council has any funds to assist such charitable groups as ourselves?? The building in which Tavistock Subscription Library is housed is owned by the town council but leased to library members for a peppercorn rent of £100 a year. The finance committee was told the subscription library had a fully repairing lease, which mentioned the ceiling by name. Cllr Caroline Keane said: ?Being a charitable organisation I wonder if they can apply for some support ? a grant or something towards the cost of the £2,000?? Cllr Alison Clish-Green asked if the library had insurance. Deputy town clerk Rosie Keyhoe told the committee the organisation should have insurance if it had a full repairing lease. Cllr Iain Andrews, chairman of the properties committee, said he took ?the lenient view? and felt the council should write off the £250-worth of work carried out by its staff. Cllr Norma Woodcock said she could not see any point in the library having a repairing lease if it was not prepared to pay for repairs. ?I would exceptionally agree that we write off the help to safeguard their ceiling in the circumstances ? but I would not be able to support a recommendation to make a grant,? she said. The committee agreed Cllr Woodcock?s suggestion ? its decision was due to be ratified by the full council at its meeting on Tuesday night.
