Business cases for 17 of the county's library and youth services look strong enough to get support from Gloucestershire County Council.

In total the authority received formal business cases for 20 locations – or 22 youth centres and library buildings. 

There are still details to be ironed out, but 17 of them are looking good.

The council will continue to work on the finer detail of the remaining three business cases.

One business case likely to get the green light is the bid from Painswick Parish Council and Community Library in Painswick (CLIP).

Following the closure of the original library building in December 2009 on health and safety grounds, the organisations are bidding to run a community library from Painswick Town Hall.

Peter Corley said: "We aim to develop a community library for the 21st century as the core of a wide range of services to be developed to meet the needs of Painswick and the surrounding areas.

"We have formed a group of trustees which includes professional librarians and people with a wide range of relevant experience in business, marketing, charity administration, law and the public sector.

"We have received an enormous amount of support from the community."

Councillor Mark Hawthorne, leader, said: "These 17 business plans demonstrate how serious communities are about taking on these buildings.

"Each of these projects is different and has been designed to fit the local community it serves and I am confident they can be a big success.

"Gloucestershire County Council has worked closely with the organisations to get the plans off the ground and we will continue to support them once the decision has been confirmed."

Youth service decisions cover the following locations:

• Bishops Cleeve – Bishops Cleeve Parish Council

• Churchdown – Community Hub Task and Finish Group

• Newent – Newent Initiative Trust (this decision will be taken by Cllr Mark Hawthorne because Cllr Will Windsor-Clive has declared an interest)

• Quedgeley – Quedgeley Community Trust

• Tetbury – Friends of Tetbury Youth Club

• Winchcombe – Winchcombe Youth Partnership

Joint youth service/ library decisions cover the following locations:

• Bourton-on-the-Water – Bourton-on-the-Water Parish Council

• Hesters Way – Hesters Way Partnership

Library decisions cover the following locations :

• Berkeley Group – a local group aiming to set up Berkeley Community Library as a charitable company

• Bream – West Dean Parish Council

• Brockworth – Brockworth Community Project

• Lechlade – Lechlade Town Council working group

• Matson – Together in Matson

• Minchinhampton – Minchinhampton Parish Council steering group

• Mitcheldean – Mitcheldean Library Action Group

• Newnham – Newnham Library Group

• Painswick – Community Library in Painswick/ Painswick Parish Council

The council will work on the finer detail of these business cases for Chequers Bridge Youth Centre in Gloucester, Lydney Youth Centre and Cinderford Youth Centre and it is confident these will progress later in the summer.

As a result of a court order, any decisions taken with regards library buildings will not be implemented until the conclusion of related legal proceedings.

The Big Community Offer package available to groups includes:

• £2,500 available per building for groups stepping forward to prepare business plans

• Peppercorn rents or up to 50% of sale proceeds if a building is sold

• An annual payment of £10,000 per community library to help with running costs

• £5,000 per community building is available for match-funding for building repairs

• £50,000 available per district to help voluntary groups provide services for young people

• A workshop has been held to help with training and to give advice on running community facilities

• A new website has been set up to provide advice on running a voluntary organisation and recruiting and placing volunteers in the right roles