Pledge to fight on for library's future
CAMPAIGNERS have pledged to keep fighting for a historic library that is due to go up for sale this week.
Wakefield Council was expected to place Normanton’s much-loved Carnegie Library on the market today – but community groups in Normanton say they are determined to make sure the developers do the right thing.
Carnegie Library in Haw Hill Park on Castleford Road – a local benefactor’s gift to townsfolk more than 100 years ago – has been boarded up since it was closed in 2001.
Council chiefs approved its sale earlier this year, with a recommendation that it be redeveloped in a way that would benefit the community.
Now Normanton campaigners say they fear for the building’s future as it has been hit by fire, bad weather and vandals since its closure.
Barbara Jodrell, chairman of Normanton Environment-al Societies Together, said: “The public said they didn’t want the building sold. They were happy for it to be leased, which would mean it still belonged to the community. That is important because the Carnegie Library was a gift to the people of Normanton. Obviously we have not been listened to.
“We want them to make sure the developers put something there, such as a cafe with an arts space, that will benefit the community.”
But she says the library’s dereliction may mean it couldn’t actually be redeveloped.
“There are ‘danger, keep out’ signs on it now. Alarm bells started ringing when I saw them – we are concerned that this may be the first step in having the building demolished.
“I am concerned the council has let it fall into disrepair so eventually it would have a reason to pull it down. That was my fear all along.
“Although I feel I have let the community down in not being successful in saving this building, I feel Wakefield Council has let us down even more by its poor housekeeping, that has let this building start to crumble.
“We put up a good fight, and although we feel it is coming to an end, I am not going to give up yet.”
And the Friends of Haw Hill Park say they are concerned about the effect the library’s development may have on the park’s users and the land around it.
Chairman Pat Render said: “In no way do we want the integrity of the park to be destroyed. Whatever the library is used for, we are not prepared to allow car parking inside the park. The park needs to be a place of safety and it is used by the elderly, the disabled and children and there is no way we want cars driving through.
“The only land belonging to the Carnegie building is the footpath around it, and we are not prepared to lose one inch of park to the developers.
“The people of Normanton consider Haw Hill their park, and we will be pushing for the parkland to be properly preserved.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Wakefield
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
