We’ll carry on calling for new library to open
CAMPAIGNERS assembled outside the as yet unopened Sherwood Library on Saturday at midday, a metaphorical High Noon.
This event was convened by Nottingham Save Our Services 2024, and attracted around 50 protesters, demanding that Sherwood Library be opened as soon as possible, with the same opening hours as when it closed for refurbishment about four years ago – i.e. 40 hours, and not the proposed reduction of 22.5 percent proposed by the city council. Several motorists loudly hooted their support as they drove past Sainsbury’s Local on the main road into town.
The protest was attended by two Sherwood councillors, Adele Williams and Nayab Patel, and Adele addressed the crowd. Other speakers included Sherwood community activists Peter Churchill and Colin Barrett from The Place Activity Centre, Richard Buckwell from Stand Up to Racism, and Gary Freeman from SOS24.
I also spoke about the ridiculous delay in the reopening of Sherwood Library, as local campaigner Alice Mcgregor was given a preview visit to the new library in spring last year, along with then portfolio holder Councillor Pavlos Kotsonis, with the expected opening to take place in summer that year.
I even asked a Citizen Question which was tabled at full council on November 13, asking about progress. I was told that it was hoped the library would be open as soon as possible in 2024.
Well, here we are over eight months later and still counting, and no sign whatsoever that Sherwood Library is opening any time soon, as from what we can see, albeit from the street outside, there is no evidence that library systems, stock or equipment have been installed in the new premises. The build has also shown physical signs of poor design, especially when it has rained heavily, with water gushing down the outside, and inside the library foyer.
We also know that the original deal with Hockley Developments signed by then council leader David Mellen, which suggested the library would be provided with no additional costs to the council due to a quid pro quo-type arrangement involving adjacent housing projects on Spondon Street, was thrown into turmoil when Dako Construction, the sub-contractor responsible for the library project went bankrupt.
I tabled three citizen questions at the recent full council meeting earlier this month, one requesting additional consultation meetings at the four libraries earmarked for closure. However, my first question demanded that the new council leadership team of Neghat Khan and Ethan Radford capitalise on the post-landslide election victory and request urgent funding from Sir Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner. The second part of the question suggested that this funding would enable the council to offset the proposed cuts in jobs and services, and return decision making to local councillors, meaning the end of the undemocratic triumvirate of the commissioners led by Tony Mcardle.
Unfortunately, Neghat praised the role of the commissioners, ruled out any request for urgent funding, and said the council needed to get its own house in order first. I think several Labour councillors in the chamber were aghast at this response, which goes against everything that the former leaders and portfolio holders had said at the Executive Board back in February, including David Mellen, Pavlos Kotsonis and Steve Battlemuch. All of these individuals had rightly pinned the blame for Nottingham’s plight mainly at the door of the former government, and its systemic underfunding of local councils like Nottingham and Birmingham.
We have two more events happening on Monday, July 29. The first is The BIG Knit & Natter event at the Brian Clough Statue, to show that libraries are so much more than books, and that knit and natter groups are just one example of the many activities taking place there. And then later the same day, we have our next SOS public meeting in The Small Hall at the YMCA International Community Centre, Mansfield Road,at 7pm, with its central demand for Emergency Funding Now!
Des Conway Sherwood