Search This Blog

Sunday 9 November 2014

Old Library Buildings in Brent

Following my earlier post on Kilburn Library I thought I might as well do an update on the old library buildings and their new uses. 

Barham Park:  This is a complex of buildings, not just the former library.  The Childrens Centre and Veteran Club continue.  Following a consultation, it was suggested that the part known as "the cardroom" might be redeveloped as a cafe.  I don't know whether that has been progressed.  The rest of the building (including the area that used to be used by the Parks service as offices) has been rented by ACAVA.  Hopefully they will help draw people to Barham Park in themselves as well as providing the Barham Trust with a regular income for the first time.  There is also now a plan for gradually redeveloping the park to make it more attractive. 
Cricklewood:  The owner at Cricklewood is hoping to get planning permission for a development.  This would involve housing and a community centre area.  The community centre has a local group lined up for occupancy after a long negotiation.  Planning permission has yet to be granted.
Kensal Rise:  The Friends of Kensal Rise Library have agreed a similar deal to the Cricklewood one.  This will be an interesting one as the same people previously denounced a very similar arrangement as "unworkable".  We shall see what happens next.
Neasden: Back in 2011, this was rented to a church.  They are a sub tenant of Brent Council who remain until 2023.  It is unlikely that Brent Council would want to continue as tenants after that date.  The sub tenancy allows the Council to cover its costs.
Preston:  Preston I have covered in a couple of posts here and here.  This is the most problematic as the group that seeks to occupy the building appears to envisage various forms of subsidy (although some of the other groups may look for subsidy and be subject to the same legal objections arising from the Bailey judgement)  At the moment the building continue as part of Preston Primary School.  It should become clear whether this will continue in early 2015.
Tokyngton:  Tokyngton was sold to an Islamic Cultural Association and is now used as a mosque. 

UPDATE
I have had a comment which, with dreary inevitability, centres on the former Kensal Rise Library.  Anyone who wants to see the reasoning for refusing the original proposal from FKRL can follow the link here.  I don't intend to publish any more comments on the subject, as they just seem to repeat points made many times in the past.  Perhaps once FKRL publish their new proposals I might do a post then.

No comments:

Post a Comment