The campaign against Library closures in Moray could be set for the Court of Session with a decision expected to be announced next week.
Save our Libraries Moray campaigners have been awaiting legal advice on if they have a strong enough case to challenge Moray Council’s decision in court.
It is understood that advice has now been received by the group and that they are on the verge of announcing that their case will take the legal route.
Moray Council announced the closure of seven libraries and one mobile library as part of their cost-saving measures – despite an Equalities Impact Assessment advising that the remaining eight libraries would be insufficient in meeting their legal obligations.
Cross-party support for the campaign has arrived from throughout Scotland, with local support from MSP’s Richard Lochhead and Stewart Stevenson and Angus Robertson MP. Scottish minister Fiona Hyslop called on a reversal of the decision while the matter is also likely to be debated at the Holyrood Parliament after a motion by Stewart Stevenson received wide support at the Scottish Government.
The Independent/Tory administration group at Moray Council have consistently refused to rethink their position despite the widespread condemnation, leaving campaigners feeling that they had little option but to challenge them in court.
Now insideMoray understands that a favourable legal opinion is in the hands of the Save our Libraries Moray group.
A spokesman for Save our Libraries Moray said: “We are expecting to hold a meeting early next week to announce the next steps in our campaign to have this completely unjustified decision by Moray Council reversed.
“We have received legal opinion from Advocates and that will be discussed in detail over the next few days amongst the various community representatives in the group.
“While it is not possible to comment on the detail of the report at this time I can confirm that there are indications of several legal grounds on which a case can be launched against Moray Council.”