Willesden Green Library Regeneration: the case against

Guest posting  from Sophia MacGibbon, a Willesden resident who spoke at the recent Willesden Area Consultation Forum. There will be an Executive report on the Willesden Green Library Regeneration at tonight's Council Meeting, 7pm, Brent Town Hall

I have a number of concerns about the Willesden Green Regeneration proposal as outlined by the Council

I find it hard to see what exactly is being proposed. The document is full of good sounding phrases, but short on what they actually mean. Because of that I cannot see whether the proposed development is going to give the people of Brent more than they are getting now. In fact all the vague proposals could be delivered in the existing structure with better management and some investment in improved technology. 

I am worried about the proposal for a number of specific reasons:-

1 The proposal will, I believe result in the demolition and loss of the original library building, currently housing an Irish Advice centre. This building is an historical and architectural gem and these are in short supply in Brent. It would be an act of vandalism to destroy it      

 2. The loss of car parking space. I know it is environmentally fashionable to knock car use and proposals that appear to make bringing cars into the town centre more difficult should be the current good thing to do. However I believe the councillors should study the finding of the survey undertaken for the Government by Mary Portas.  She argues strongly that for local high roads to stand a chance against shopping centres etc, there has to be parking provided at minimal cost. While it is possible to park at Sainsbury’s, the space is limited and I fear that many of the shops further along the High Road will lose custom if the car park at the library were to go. Many people park, use the Library centre and then nip out to the local shops. What rate benefit the council might accrue from residential development of the parking space may well be offset by the loss of business rates if yet more shops close down. And the negative impact on the High Road could be devastating.

The closure of 6 of the borough’s libraries has meant that may people have to travel considerable distances to get access to a library. The loss of the car parking facility will hit the elderly and people bringing young children to the library to enjoy the under5s sessions, etc. These sessions are an important way of developing a love of books and a confidence in using libraries. The closure of the car park could be argued as discrimination as it will impact on some sections of the population more than others

3. The loss of the open space at the front of the library centre will be a shame, especially as there is beginning to be a real effort to use the space more frequently and imaginatively. There is an ongoing attempt to establish a regular market there that has the potential to become successful, there things take time, and the current sculptural art work is a delight.  The High Road is mainly narrow and quite dark, the open space around the library is a welcome break of light and air.

4. What is wrong with the current building? I read in the proposal document that it is expensive and not fit for purpose. In what way is it not fit for purpose? Everything that seems to be being proposed could go on in the existing centre if it was properly managed. Currently many of the features of the current building are idle. Why? How come people have been able to establish a successful cinema in most unlikely premises in Kensal Rise, (The Lexi) while the purpose built cinema with a car park is unused? Good management should have dealt with that in a way that could have been profitable to the council. Likewise the bar/cafe area.  Cafe culture is rapidly growing all round the borough and that cafe should have been a successful and profitable business, bringing rent revenue in for years. A recent successful art/craft project showed the real potential of the space. The underused upstairs spaces could have been utilised in ways envisaged in the proposals for redevelopment.  The current centre is expensive because it is underused and little imagination has been shown both to exploit the space and make money out of it. If a new centre is built what guarantee is there that it won’t be poorly, expensively and unimaginatively managed.

5. The loss of the bookshop. Bookshops are struggling across the country and having one still surviving on the High Road is to be applauded. The High Road is increasingly reducing to pound shops, all hours’ grocers and fast food outlets. Any shops that provide variety and in the case of the bookshop, culture should be encouraged and supported. While attempts to get current unused shops available at reduced rents, there are only to be for a limited period and this proposal is not a permanent solution for a shop such as the bookshop. The shop provides an invaluable service to many local schools as it deals with their book orders. The schools will struggle if the shop goes.

6. I fear for the future of the library aspect of the proposed centre when I see the current provision described as “warehousing books”. What is being proposed, a library without books? Already much of the library space is taken up with the provision of a free internet cafe. While I think the provision for study space, including internet provision is invaluable, much of the current space is not used for that, but by people sending emails. Moreover student study space is not the only use of the library and despite the increasing use of eBooks; hard copy books are still the central purpose for libraries and will be for many years to come. If in the future technology proves me wrong, it will require a small investment to upgrade the provision.

7. I worry about the council’s belief in the value of public/ private partnerships. Is there a real guarantee that the Brent citizens and ratepayers will get as much out of this proposed development as the developers will or will they at the end not quite be able to deliver the state of the Art space that was envisaged in the original proposal? The disruption and poor provision that will last for months if not years may at the end mean that we land up with something not much better than we have now, while losing valuable local assets.

Note: More than 250 people have now signed the epetition asking the Council to allocate space in the new Cultural Centre (if it goes ahead) for the Willesden Bookshop. Please encourage friends and contacts to sign. LINK

A campaign is also emerging to preserve the old Willesden Library building which is locally listed.

Libraries Fight Continues - Act Now

A message from Save Preston Library Campaign:

Dear Preston Library Supporters,

You may have been told that the fight is over. Everything is lost. Far from it. If our politicians have resigned themselves to the permanent loss of our libraries (mind you, most of them will not be losing theirs), the residents of Brent fight on. And boy is it getting interesting.

To recap:  

* The closure of Preston library is UNNECESSARY and UNJUSTIFIED. 

* They say it will save £1million. 

* We say STOP the building of a new £3million library no one has asked for, and leave ours alone.

* They say, they will provide a better service. 

* We ask HOW? If we have to spend more time and money getting to facilities further away.

Brent is creating a 2-tier library system - some areas will get expanded LOCAL provision, the rest of us will lose what little we have. Fair? I think not. 

SO WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

Two things:

1. All six library campaigns have formed Brent SOS Libraries and we are challenging the closure plan legally. It is an exciting prospect with excellent chances. 

Please see http://www.brentsoslibraries.org.uk/ for more details. We ARE fundraising, so please watch this space for details of events. 

- we are all volunteers, and we haven't asked for a penny so far. We need both volunteers and donations. Email us if you wish to do either. It's your library too. 

2. Every resident affected by libraries is writing to the Secretary of State, who can step in and help us, but only if we ALL take 2 minutes to write to him. Details follow. 

****URGENT ACTION - WRITE TO JEREMY HUNT, SECRETARY OF STATE  (THIS WEEK)***

Thanks to your letters, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (responsible for libraries) has asked to meet with Brent Council.  In theory the government can stop the closure. BUT the only way this can happen is if every resident writes/emails the Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt, to tell him how you will be affected.

Thousands are affected by the closure of Preston Library, thousands of letters must land on Jeremy's desk.

It takes 2 minutes to write a short email. Do it now. Get your neighbours and kids to sign it.

According to the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, Brent Council is obliged to provide a "comprehensive and efficient library service". The date is yet to be confirmed, but we are preparing evidence that the Brent Council is failing to meet its responsibilities.

Local Government Minister, Eric Pickles, has already criticised Brent Council's inability to make proper savings. They prefer to chop off important public services instead of cutting out waste.

Thousands are affected by the closure of Preston Library, they need to see thousands of emails/letters. We need you to do this.

*The DCMS will only take our complaint seriously if EVERYONE writes to them. This week, we must all take a few minutes to write  short email or letter explaining how the closure of Preston Library affects YOU. It doesn't need to be long or beautifully written, just needs to be written.

Here are some ideas on what you could write.

- It will cost time and money to go to Kingsbury Library - can you afford the bus fare/car parking fee everytime you want to use a library?

- Do you have time in your busy working day to go all the way to the Town Hall or Kingsbury by car or pu blic transprt to take out or return a book?

- Are you disabled or elderly? How hard is it for you to use the bus to get to Kingsbury / Town Hall? Can you manage the stairs at Preston Road Station to get to Brent Town Hall by tube? Can you face the waiting, and the journey there and back?

- Do you have a computer? Does your family have just one computer between you? Will you really be hogging the computer just to read an e-book?

- How do you feel about half the borough having better local libraries while you are deprived of yours?

- Is it fair that Willesden Library gets expensive games consoles and table tennis while you are being asked to "take a bus" because the council says it can't afford your library?

- What are you losing when Preston Library closes? Will the new virtual book groups and far away libraries compensate?

Email: huntj@parliament.uk (please cc: saveprestonroadlibrary@gmail.com AND dempster.marples@culture.gsi.gov.uk)

Address: Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, 2-4 Cockspur Street, London, SW1Y 5DH