Author Archives: mpender

Above is a photo of one of the two protest demos last week, at the pedestrian crossing on Beckenham Road outside the library, against the demolition of the library building and moving the library to Beckenham Halls. Virtually all vehicles passing tooted their support, including bus drivers and lorry drivers. We hope local people didn’t mind the noise too much for just an hour!

At the meeting of LB Bromley’s Executive Committee on Wednesday evening (27^th), there was a tremendous turnout of local people – every seat taken, people standing and sitting on the steps. The Committee was left in no doubt that the people of Beckenham do not approve of these plans.

There were questions from the public on the lack of consultation before going ahead to spend £70,000 on a feasibility study, and also on why there was no impact assessment of the effects of users of the public halls, who would lose two out of three available rooms.

Of course, the Committee voted to commission the feasibility study at a cost of £70,000. But there were commitments that the move would not go ahead unless the new facilities at Beckenham Halls would be both bigger and better than the current building. We have measured both spaces and it seems to us that the two rooms in the Halls that are identified for use as the library are only one third of the size of the current library.

We were told that the proposed flats would be 50% affordable – and after the laughter had died down at the use of the word affordable, we were told that they would be genuinely “social housing” not just for sale at 80% of Beckenham market prices. It was also said that the images of the proposed flats were simply graphic examples and that the design would be put out to architectural competition. But all that will obviously become clear only if the proposals are pursued and the developer’s plans conform. Councillor Morgan’s report to the committee will be reproduced in full in the minutes of the meeting in due course, which will be available on the council’s website (under 27 November Executive Committee). We will look carefully to ensure all the commitments made during the debate are fully recorded.  

Beckenham Halls was crowded last Thursday evening (14th Nov) to hear about the council’s proposals to move the library from Clock House to a redeveloped Beckenham Halls. The meeting voted to set up an action committee.

We fully acknowledge that the current proposals do not mean closure of library facilities in Beckenham. But we are still opposed to it being moved to a smaller facility, the loss of a valued community service in Clock House, the loss of two out three public rooms at Beckenham Halls on Bromley Road and demolition of the 1939 late art deco purpose built library building. Not to mention the imposition of a brutalistic 5 storey block of flats on the library site.

The residents at the meeting made their feelings felt – the points raised were …

The loss of community facilities in Clock House. Many pointed out that the Library is use for children along side the Spa, with parents combining visits. 

Clock House has been revitalised recently. Removing the library would be kick in the teeth for the area.

The council paper said £300k to be spent on consultants for this scheme, while the repair backlog is for Beckenham Halls is £400k – the meeting applauded the point that the council should spend the consultants fee on the necessary refurbishment! 

A local architect said the current Computer Generated Images (CGI) should not be taken at face value. Housing requirements are that flats should have access to outdoor space, so the park next to the supposed block would probably also be needed for the development.

The local history archives at Beckenham Library belong in Beckenham. There is not room for them in the proposed Beckenham Halls, and thymus not be moved to Bromley library. Indeed we want the Beckenham history material currently stored in Bromley to be rehoused in Beckenham.

The loss of two out of three halls at Beckenham Halls is a big detriment. The smaller halls provide much needed smaller group space, for which the large hall will be too expensive. But if they do compete for space in the large hall, lager groups will have nowhere to go.

Please sign the petition and get family friends and neighbours to do so. There will also be paper versions available soon.

The proposal to commission the feasibility study at a cost of £70,000 will be discussed at the Executive Committee meeting at the Civic Centre at 7pm on 27 November. Our local Clock House councillors will speak and would welcome support in the public gallery. Or contact members of the Committee directly.

 Councillor Graham Arthur   Graham.Arthur@bromley.gov.uk

Councillor Peter Fortune  Peter.Fortune@bromley.gov.uk

Councillor William Huntington-Thresher   william@ocat.co.uk

Councillor Kate Lymer Kate.Lymer@bromley.gov.uk

Councillor Peter Morgan Peter.Morgan@bromley.gov.uk

Councillor Colin Smith Chairman Colin.Smith@bromley.gov.uk

Councillor Diane Smith     Diane.Smith@bromley.gov.uk

 

PUBLIC MEETING ON PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT OF LIBRARY SITE FOR HOUSING AND RELOCATION OF LIBRARY TO BECKENHAM HALLS

7.30pm, Thursday 14 November Beckenham Halls Bromley Road

Come along to find out more and please sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/bromley-council-save-beckenham-library?signed=true

Candelit Parade