New chapter for former Higham Ferrers library building after council sale

The first Northamptonshire library to close after a cash-strapped council's cutbacks looks set to become offices.

But there could still be a form of library provision inside the historic building in Midland Road in Higham Ferrers - although who would run it is up in the air.

The library was the first casualty of Northamptonshire County Council's plans to sell off assets and reduce running costs as the authority looked to hand over the running of 22 libraries to community groups, without success in Higham Ferrers. It was a sad day for the town on December 31 when the library closed and since then those wanting to borrow a book or use library services have had to travel elsewhere.

The building has since been bought by Northamptonshire-based housebuilders Snowdon Homes Ltd, who want to convert it to offices and have pledged to retain a 39 sq m room which was formerly the Sure Start facility as a community-use facility, which could become a small library.

They held discussions with the Higham Ferrers Community Library Group (HFCLG), but the volunteers say that despite the 'kind offer' of having a small part of the building on a peppercorn rent they won't take on the running of it because it "wouldn't be a proper library".

HFCLG chairman Paul Needle said: "We have considered their kind offer of providing space for a mini-library and/or community room facilities and appreciate the thought behind this.

"However, the sort of book space which would be available would be severely limited to operate this as a library as it would not be viewed a “proper library” in the eyes of local people but offer a mere token presence – too little, too late.

"The view of our community library group is that the battle to save the service in our town was lost when NCC would not consider a peppercorn rental agreement to prove the need for that service and when Higham Ferrers Town Council almost unanimously refused to consider buying the property or assist us in running a community service. People in the town have now moved to Rushden Library with heavy hearts and still feel let down by all sides."

However, Mr Needle said he hoped someone came forward to run the community room and suggested it was something Higham Ferrers Town Council, who previously suggested plans to open a library in a new community centre, could look into.

Any community group which takes on the running of the space in the old library would pay no running costs, with Snowdon footing the bill for the cost of insurance and maintenance.

The housebuilders, who employ about 50 people locally and are looking to expand, have agreed to enter into a lease for a minimum of 10 years with a break clause after three years.

In a planning statement, they said: "We are conscious that the loss of the library facility did cause much concern locally and although we had no involvement in the decision to close the library, as a local company, we would like to ensure that some form of library provision and/or local community facility is retained within the building as well as the proposal to change the building to office use."

A spokesman Northamptonshire County Council said: “Higham Ferrers Library was not identified to be part of the council’s statutory provision for the county and therefore would only be able to continue in the form of a community-managed library.

"We welcomed bids for the property which included the potential to maintain a community-managed library provision there as this would enable the town to keep a library provision as an interim measure while their new centre was planned and built, but this was always dependent on a volunteer group coming forward to take ownership of the space and manage its use day-to-day.”

A decision on the offices plan will be made by East Northamptonshire Council.

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