Fears 2024 opening of Sherwood Library ‘increasingly unlikely’ as problems continue

One campaigner says it's turning into the 'Nightmare before Christmas'

Nottingham City Council says problems with the new Sherwood Library are still not fixed – leading campaigners to say they fear a pre-Christmas opening is now looking “increasingly unlikely”.

The opening of the new library in Spondon Street was delayed beyond a planned summer opening so work to fix 130 defects with the development could be carried out. On September 9, Cllr Sam Lux, the council’s executive member for culture, said the problems would be rectified in three weeks.

However providing an update a month later on October 9, the authority says the developer is still rectifying the remaining problems. A council spokesperson said: “The developer is currently rectifying remaining issues within the building.

Get the latest news straight to your phone by joining us on WhatsApp

“Once work is completed, the council will be able to finalise plans for the inside of the building.” In 2017 the old library was deemed not fit for purpose due to its poor state of repair.

By 2020 a plan was drawn up to demolish it and rebuild the library with added commercial space and housing. Nottingham City Council sold the site to local developer Hockley Developments, with an agreement that the library would be built at no capital cost to the authority, and that a 125-year lease would be created at a nominal rent.

While Sainsbury’s is now open in the commercial space, the library’s doors remain closed due to a number of problems. They included a leak in the atrium, problems with the living wall and issues with fire safety.

Earlier this year it was reported how work on the library had been hampered after the scheme’s previous contractor, Dako Construction, collapsed into administration. While a new contractor was soon found and the library building was handed back to the council at the end of 2023 for the final fit-out, a planned summer opening was missed when the defects were discovered.

Des Conway, a Nottingham libraries campaigner, said he has seen new materials inside the building but noted a lack of visible work taking place. “When I observed from the bus, the lights are not on in the library space, and no sign of library shelving, enquiry desk furniture, and PCs, so a pre-Christmas opening is looking increasingly unlikely,” he said.

“It’s turning into the Nightmare Before Christmas. Several members of the ‘Sherwood in Nottingham’ Facebook group are getting quite agitated about the lack of progress.”

While the council did not provide an opening date in its latest statement, the Nottingham City Libraries website states it will open “later in 2024”. Hockley Developments was also contacted for comment but said the council would be providing updates.