Derbyshire councillor welcomes roof revamp plan at ‘run down’ library after claims of ‘dripping water’

Cllr Joan Dixon, the Labour Group Leader at the Conservative-controlled Derbyshire County Council, told a Full Council meeting, on March 27, that it was sad to see the council library, on Town End, near Bolsover town centre so run down.

She said: “Bolsover Library is in an awful state of repair. In the children’s reading areas there are buckets with water dripping from the roof.

“Other parts of the library are no better. In the kitchen area, where the staff make drinks and prepare food, there is a gaping hole in the roof.

“In the room where we councillors hold our surgeries, there was water running down the walls next to electric sockets, which could risk electrocution.

“The light on the stairs doesn’t work. It’s so sad to see it run down so much.”

Cllr Dixon asked the Council Leader, Cllr Barry Lewis, during the meeting when the authority will be carrying out repairs and she welcomed the news that a contractor was scheduled to visit the site on Thursday, March 28, and that repairs are expected to take place later this year.

The Council Leader acknowledged that it was ‘not good’ that there have been continuing issues at the library but he said the majority of ‘the items’ raised by Cllr Dixon have been ‘actioned’ in particular ‘the water ingress and the electrics’.

However, he added that some of the work has been on hold because of the significant re-roofing that is required so that the ceiling tiles can also be replaced.

Cllr Lewis said: “The roof is quite steep in the way it’s constructed and it has a disproportionate effect on scaffolding costs and it makes that a costly exercise so to resolve this roofing issue it will be part of a larger scheme as value for the council.”

The Council Leader also stated that a contractor was scheduled to attend the library on March 28 to check if there are any outstanding health and safety issues and further work is due to commence later in the year.

Cllr Dixon, who praised library staff for putting ‘a lot of work in trying to make the library a welcoming and stimulating space despite the poor conditions’, said she very much welcomed the news that the library is to undergo improvements ‘later in the year’.

She also stated in a Facebook post: “I am delighted to report that a building inspection will go ahead tomorrow (March 28) and it will be getting a new roof later on this year.”