A PLAN to move Wokingham’s library to the new Carnival Place development is expected to be approved next week.
The council has announced the plan as part of its desire to turn the revamped site, which will be home to Carnival Pool, a bowling alley and a new multi-storey car park, into a cultural centre for Wokingham.
They say that the site will bring together “a range of great things for people to do in new and improved facilities in a single, easy-to-reach location for residents of the town and wider area”.
There is no immediate plan to move the library – next week’s Executive meeting of Wokingham Borough Council will be to agree an “in-principle” decision to move the library from its present base in Denmark Street to Carnival Pool.
But there will be lots of hoops for the Council to jump through before such a scheme can go ahead. This may include compulsory purchase orders for some of the land in the Carnival Place scheme – none of the area around Carnival Pool is affected, including the allotments.
With this in mind, any building work is not expected to start until 2019 but the preparatory work has to take place now.
Cllr Mark Ashwell, executive member for planning and regeneration, said: “It’s a complex and lengthy legal process so, with our plans to start on site in 2019, this is the right time to start looking at what’s required to deliver the second phase of the Carnival development.”
And the councillor responsible for libraries said that the move will enable a purpose-built facility to be created.
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for resident services, said: “A move to Carnival could allow us to create a fantastic state-of-the-art new library for Wokingham and surrounding area which would be at the heart of the new leisure and cultural centre of the town – an ideal place for people to link activities or try something new, maybe see an exhibition or attend a lecture before going on to the gym. Or browsing for library books, while the children are in swim school and then all grabbing a coffee in the new café.”
It’s not the only modernisation of the borough’s libraries: the Denmark Street branch has just re-opened after a refurbishment which includes new self-service facilities.
Next Thursday’s Executive meeting will see the plans discussed, while the new multi-storey car park is expected to be completed in May.
Cllr Ashwell added: “Work on the first phase of the Carnival regeneration is going well and we will be opening the new car park in just a few months. Alongside this we’ve continued refining our proposals for Phase 2, looking in greater detail at layout and the types of facilities and activities it can offer.
“Improving the leisure and community facilities available to Wokingham Borough residents is incredibly important and something the council is totally committed to.
“As at Peach Place we continue to seek to acquire all land and rights required through negotiations and would only revert to using compulsory purchase powers where an agreement cannot be reached.”
