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WALTHAMSTOW: Labour councillors "tried to rush through library sale"

11:12am Thursday 1st October 2009 in


THE Labour group on the council tried to force the sale of the former St James St library building on to a cabinet meeting agenda, it has emerged.

The building, in Coppermill Lane, has been empty since the library was closed in 2007 to the anger of campaigners, who have since called for the building to be re-opened for public use.

A report outlining buildings to be sold was due to come before last month's cabinet meeting, but in a private meeting beforehand Labour cabinet members tried to persuade Lib Dem leader and relevant portfolio holder John Macklin to add the library to the list.

Cllr Macklin refused and pulled the report, fearing that Labour would successfully amend it in a cabinet vote.

Cllr Macklin said: “The Labour group wanted to rush ahead without taking the facts into consideration.

“We want to make sure the possibility of community use has not been excluded.”

Cllr Macklin said a proper assessment of the building's potential uses has to be made before a decision to sell can be made.

The only way the building can be sold soon is if council leader Chris Robbins brings it forward as a separate item- something campaigners fear may happen at Tuesday's town hall meeting.

Janet Wright, of the St James St library campaign, said: “The Labour group seems determined to close the building, but they have never come up with a good reason why it should be.”

Cllr Robbins wanted to site a drug treatment centre in the building but reluctantly dropped the idea earlier in the year following public opposition.

Council leader Cllr Robbins has so far been unavailable for comment.

Comments(12)

Walthamster says...
1:00pm Thu 1 Oct 09

They closed St James Street library to save £70,000 a year, but then poured money into having it occupied 24 hours a day.

That includes installing all the facilities needed to make it legal for people to live in.

Now the bottom has fallen out of the property market, they want to sell it at a give-away price. Council-tax payers' money down the drain, but very nice for the buyer.

Does anyone wonder why people have lost all trust in this council?

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Techno2 says...
5:32pm Thu 1 Oct 09

Walthamster wrote:
They closed St James Street library to save £70,000 a year, but then poured money into having it occupied 24 hours a day. That includes installing all the facilities needed to make it legal for people to live in. Now the bottom has fallen out of the property market, they want to sell it at a give-away price. Council-tax payers' money down the drain, but very nice for the buyer. Does anyone wonder why people have lost all trust in this council?
Good question.

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mdj says...
9:52pm Thu 1 Oct 09

Can someone confirm whether Ross Wyld Hall, the best-located public meeting place in the Borough which was closed a while back, is now in the hands of a business run by a former Councillor?
Do we have a transparent process of disposal of our assets? Dumping a freehold into a crashed market is not acheiving 'best value', I'd have thought. What advice did Mrs Macdonald Khan give the Cabinet about how to get the best price (this presumably being the person who advised that several acres of land next to the A406 were of Nil Value, and could be given free of charge to the Muslim Burial Trust)?

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Touchwood says...
10:59pm Thu 1 Oct 09

'Robbing Robbins' at it again!!

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Brendasfriend says...
11:07pm Thu 1 Oct 09

Didn't the Jackson 5 sing about him? Twiddly dee - twiddly-diddly dee....

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Dave Hall says...
11:14pm Thu 1 Oct 09

Given the way the Labour Group treat John Macklin and his Lib Dems, why do he and they put up with it? Why do the Lib Dems keep propping up this bunch? Do they think that this will make the Lib Dems more popular at the next elections?

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Walthamster says...
11:59pm Thu 1 Oct 09

I think when it comes to the elections people won't forgive the Lib Dems for keeping Labour in power. They're making feeble little efforts now, but they've solidly backed the Labour group in closing the library and all the other cuts since 2006. Too late to try to look innocent now.

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Brendasfriend says...
9:52am Fri 2 Oct 09

I quite agree. Who will we replace them with though? We need to find some willing candidates to stand as independents. There are a lot of people in favour of this but how many of us would be prepared to stand?

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Malcolm Yeoman says...
5:54pm Fri 2 Oct 09

Since Loakes left it all seems to have gone to pot. he had strong leadership with or without a tie he held this council together and would never had let the Dog Track, EMD, or the Library go. I hope he wins the Nottingham Seat but if he does not, will be welcomed back with thousands of pairs of open arms, balloons, billions of copies of unread Waltham Forest Magazines and leaflets on sexual education for the over 50's, and a cream tea fit for a King, our Son is welcome back in my eyes, I want my council tax to go up so that our dearest Loakes can spend, spend, spend!

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Walthamster says...
9:24pm Fri 2 Oct 09

Malcolm Yeoman wrote:
Since Loakes left it all seems to have gone to pot. he had strong leadership with or without a tie he held this council together and would never had let the Dog Track, EMD, or the Library go. I hope he wins the Nottingham Seat but if he does not, will be welcomed back with thousands of pairs of open arms, balloons, billions of copies of unread Waltham Forest Magazines and leaflets on sexual education for the over 50's, and a cream tea fit for a King, our Son is welcome back in my eyes, I want my council tax to go up so that our dearest Loakes can spend, spend, spend!
In case anyone reading this doesn't know: Clyde Loakes was the council leader who closed St James St library, let the dog track close, made and broke a promise to save the EMD cinema, and started much of the damage that Robbins is continuing.

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Malcolm Yeoman says...
12:16pm Sat 3 Oct 09

Walthamster wrote:
Malcolm Yeoman wrote:
Since Loakes left it all seems to have gone to pot. he had strong leadership with or without a tie he held this council together and would never had let the Dog Track, EMD, or the Library go. I hope he wins the Nottingham Seat but if he does not, will be welcomed back with thousands of pairs of open arms, balloons, billions of copies of unread Waltham Forest Magazines and leaflets on sexual education for the over 50's, and a cream tea fit for a King, our Son is welcome back in my eyes, I want my council tax to go up so that our dearest Loakes can spend, spend, spend!
In case anyone reading this doesn't know: Clyde Loakes was the council leader who closed St James St library, let the dog track close, made and broke a promise to save the EMD cinema, and started much of the damage that Robbins is continuing.
Very informative. I did not realise this. Are you certain that we are talking about the same Mr. Loakes? This one never wore a tie.

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LEYTONOLDBOY says...
11:23am Mon 5 Oct 09

Councillor Robbins is ALWAYS unavailable for comment. Has anyone ever known him to face the public in a meeting and account for his actions? I saw this once and he was pitiable. I could almost feel sorry for him if he wasn't doing so much damage.

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