Work on new Banbury library “imminent”

“Escalating costs” led to a Castle Quay move being abandoned in favour of the old Wilko store

Work to convert the old Wilko store into Banbury’s new library is “imminent”.

Councillor Dan Levy, who is Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, gave the update during a meeting at County Hall on Tuesday.

He also claimed that the delays in the project and the abandoning of previous plans to locate the library in Castle Quay were down to “the inability of previous [Conservative] administration at Cherwell District Council to reach agreement with this Council”.

Banbury Library’s current home in Marlborough Road is leased by the County Council at a cost of £55,000 each year.

In 2022 plans to relocate to Castle Quay were announced with the County Council advertising for contractors to complete the fitout of the old M&S unit in March.

Then in April 2022 planning permission was granted to allow the library to occupy most of the first-floor area which used to house menswear, homeware and the M&S café. A report to Cherwell’s Councillors noted the relocation may help increase the number of people visiting the shopping centre: “The proposal will result in the reduction of retail floorspace within the shopping centre; however, a library has a relatively high footfall and may help to encourage the vitality of this part of the town centre.”

But these plans were abandoned with “escalating costs” blamed in a report to the County Council Cabinet in July, when the move to the old Wilko building was announced.

At yesterday’s County Council meeting Banbury Town Mayor and County Councillor Mark Cherry asked Councillor Levy for an update on when work would start at the new library on Bridge Street.

Councillor Levy replied: “The saga of Banbury Library has been going on for a long time. It was partly driven by the inability of the previous administration at Cherwell District Council to reach agreement with this Council about moving into Castle Quay. We’ve got around that by looking at another site. I understand the fitting out is potentially imminent and I am very hopeful indeed that you will have a working library, which the residents of Banbury have long been waiting for and deserve, in the near future.”

The costs to refit and meet decarbonisation targets at Marlborough Road were estimated to exceed £2m. The money for this is instead being used to purchase and refit the old Wilko store.

Published: 11/09/2024 10:46am by Banbury FM Newsteam

d bayley On 11/09/2024 at 8:46 pm

“decarbonisation targets ” – cut out the BS. It’s costs time and money. It’s a library! If you want to cut pollution how about ending the war in Ukraine?!