Thornbury to get ‘bigger, better library’ at Turnberries
South Gloucestershire Conservatives have approved plans for a new library in Thornbury, relocating the old library to the Turnberries Community Centre.
The current Thornbury library is in a very poor state of repair, needing re-roofing, new windows, complete rewiring, repairs to the heating system, and a host of other maintenance works which require large amounts of investment. More than £70,000 has been spent on temporary repairs to the library in the last decade, and it is still in a poor state.
The new plans will see the old library replaced with something bigger and better, with more space of higher quality. With the footfall coming to Turnberries, this will help make the business case to reopen the popular and much loved community café in the building, providing an upgrade of current services.
Having consulted with the public and major stakeholders throughout September, it is proposed that there be a new, modernised library in the town. The Turnberries library would continue to benefit from the open access technology brought in by the Council, which has nearly doubled opening hours across South Gloucestershire, a great news story when compared with libraries in Bristol facing closure.
Speaking of the decision, Cabinet Member for Communities and Tourism Cllr Heather Goddard said:
“As part of our continued investment in Thornbury we want to give the town a new library. The current library is looking very aged and as Thornbury grows it is only right that it has a bigger, better library that represents the aspirations for the town, benefitting from our new policy of extended library opening hours. Previous Councils have tried and failed to upgrade Thornbury’s library, but we are going to make it happen.”