The fate of the Spreydon Library is now in the hands of Councillors at the next Christchurch City Council’s meeting on November 25.

Members of the council’s strategy and resources committee yesterday decided, on the casting vote of the chairman, to recommend to the council that the library be extended behind the present building.

Debate was sometimes heated and a move to seek another report on the library, combined with the St Martins Library, was lost.

Last month the community services committee asked that a further report be sought and Cr Carole Anderton, the committee’s chairwoman, made similar calls at yesterday’s meeting.

But the chairman of the strategy and resources committee, Cr David Close, said he was conscious of the need to hold down costs. Extending the present library into the park was the best option out of four as it was the cheapest by $363,000.

"This option will give us a good library. Those who seek another report must be in cloud cuckoo-land if they think they will find a better alternative which will save costs," he said.

"Can we look in the eyes of ratepayers when we spend an additional $400,000 to save one to three trees," he said.

Cr Anderton said she did not want to see trees go and a decision to extend the library was ignoring the wishes of residents who said, in the consultation process, that they did not want the extension option.

Crs Ian Howell and Carole Evans wanted a halt to the present process to find a better site.

Cr Denis O’Rourke said that to start the process again would be "a journey into a swamp of indecision." Possibly only one tree would be lost.

"It is ludicrous to spend $300,000 on one tree. That would be a horrible use of ratepayers’ money," Cr O’Rourke said.