County Council U-turn on Binley Woods library sale

[dutchman]

Angry residents in Binley Woods were left fuming after the local library site went up for sale – without them knowing.



They say promises had been made by Warwickshire County Council officers that there would a full consultation and updates on what would happen to the library site after it closes at the end of this month.

But last week, a for sale sign unexpectedly went up outside the building in Monks Road, putting it on the market for £125,000-£150,000 for a commercial development. The county council has now withdrawn the property from sale.

Angered by the move, Paul Salisbury, from Craven Avenue, Binley Woods, said: “At the very first meeting in April last year, our local councillor promised residents nothing would be done without us being informed.

“They promised us a consultation and said nothing would happen without residents knowing and then this sign goes up.”

A parish plan is currently being drawn up to determine what residents want for the future and how much extra housing will be needed in years to come.

Residents had hoped to have completed this before any decision was made on the use of the library site.

Mr Salisbury added: “We had hoped the council would have waited, knowing we are doing the parish plan. We are even looking at ways the community can buy the library for ourselves but all that takes time.”

Anne Tippet, from Elm Close, caused a fuss after the sign went up and this week the council backed down and said they would take the site off the market.

She said: “This sign just came up out of the blue and stunned us all.

“We have made so much fuss about this they eventually listened and said they have taken it off the market, but we have just lost our trust in the county council with all the promises they have made and broken.

“Even though they say it is off the market now, the sign is still up and why is it still advertised on the website?

“The council has just tried to get it sorted as fast as possible and if we hadn’t made a fuss about it, they might not have changed their mind about the sale.

"At our last parish meeting members of the public were really concerned and said they don’t want this site going without a proper consultation from the council.

"This is the only site we have got in the village that is not on green belt land and can be developed on so we want a say in what happens.”

A spokesman for Warwickshire County Council, said the council had decided to withdraw the site from the market.

He said: “The imperative to make very large savings quickly is why officers have proceeded without delay.

“However, on reflection, and having heard the concerns of the parish council, it would be better to ensure that we take into account the forthcoming parish plan particularly any local housing needs before the site is marketed.

“This means we will withdraw the site from the market until such time as we understand what the housing needs are.”

The current library will be replaced with a mobile library from next month which will visit the village from 3-5pm on Wednesdays.

[dutchman]

Warwickshire Library Service’s mobile library service has announced its stops in the Binley Woods area as it replaces the library.



Binley Woods Library closes at the end of the month and the mobile library service has announced that it will be stopping at two venues every Wednesday.

It will call at the old library at 2pm from Wednesday 4 April until 3.25pm then proceed to the shops outside Woodland Road for 3.30pm and remain there until 5pm.

Warwickshire’s fleet of mobile vehicles has a wide range of stock which, depending on what is available at Warwickshire Libraries, is refreshed every three weeks. Adaptations to the vehicles ensure that they are accessible for wheelchairs.

Each vehicle is equipped with over 2,000 fiction and non-fiction books, a children’s section, offers public access to free online library services and the internet and talking books. Its stock is regularly refilled and refreshed from the fleet’s base.

Cllr Colin Hayfield, portfolio holder for customers, access and physical assets said: “The mobile libraries do an outstanding job in bringing the service to areas where there is not access to a local library.

“Residents will be able to access many of the services that they enjoyed at Binley Woods Library and we will continue to work with them to explore possibilities for a sustainable, community-run service elsewhere in the town.”

Binley Woods was among the libraries in the borough that could no longer be sustained when the library service faced a 30% cut in its budget of around £7.5m.

The community library at Dunchurch will open on Wednesday, April 4.