£1.2m earmarked for new library in Thatcham
A new library is on the cards for Thatcham.
West Berkshire Council has allocated £1.2m in its budget for next year for the new build.
The council has described the facility as a new library and community hub building.
But it hasn’t yet been able to provide Newburytoday with more details about the building itself or the planned location in the town.
Thatcham Town Council was also unable to provide any information.
The need for such a facility was identified in the district council’s Infrastructure Development Plan for its Local Plan Review.
WBC is planning to deliver this in partnership with Thatcham Town Council, developers and local organisations.
Documents indicate that the work is expected to continue until 2027.
And also that the entire project costs of £1.2m will be funded by developer contributions.
West Berkshire Council has also allocated £122k a year to keep its library books supply refreshed.
It is also planning a £2.5m project to increase storage capacity for the county's historic archives, partner-funded with other Berkshire councils.
The town’s current library – on Bath Road – has just undergone a £45,000 refurbishment, fully funded by West Berkshire Council through developers’ contributions via the Community Infrastructure Levy.
A new accessible toilet was installed and the canopy above the current doorway removed to create a more modern and visible entrance.
Janine Lewis (Lib Dem, Tilehurst and Purley), West Berkshire’s executive member for public health, culture, leisure, sport and countryside, said at the time that the library had attracted 428 new members in the previous six months.
She added: “Thatcham Library is a very popular community facility with a constantly growing membership.
“The accessible toilet was suggested some time ago by the Friends of Thatcham Library Group and we’re delighted to be able to make a start on the improvements.”
The refurbishment caused a clash of the councils last year with voluntary financial contributions at the heart of the conflict.
The town council temporarily halted its revenue contributions to West Berkshire Council for the running of the facility until the capital-funded works were completed.
A former Conservative West Berkshire councillor – and former town councillor – asked for these contributions to be reinstated in February last year.
His requests were rejected at the time – which he labelled as “political game playing”.
Thatcham Town Council had made these annual payments, of £24,000, since 2017.
The works were completed in November last year.
The library is also supported by a voluntary Thatcham-based group, Friends of Thatcham Library.