Refurbishment plan for Corringham library

THURROCK Council plans to spend almost half a million pounds on refurbishing Corringham Library.

After wide ranging consultations, Thurrock Council plan to spend around £450,000 on the St John’s Way library which will close for three months from early December.

The council’s cabinet member for Culture and Leisure, Coun Joy Redsell, said: "We are delivering on our promise to refurbish and modernise the library and it is great our plans are now coming to fruition.

"We made a major effort to consult and talk with local people about some of the options for the library and what they wanted to see there."

As part of the consultation the council talked to parents at Baby Rhyme Times, asked Year Six children attending Chatterbooks to leave their views and invited a group of young people from Gable Hall School to come in and give their views.

The council also invited local councillors to come and look at plans and gave a presentation to the Corringham and Fobbing forum.

Facilities at the modernised new-look library will include an improved frontage, entrance and access, improved heating/lighting/ventilation, a self-issue system releasing staff to help and support library users, a meeting room that may be available when the library is closed, a quiet room for private study, WiFi connections, a toilet for library users, and a landscaped garden.

Coun Redsell added: "Although the library will be closed for some time for the work to be carried out, we are extending hours at Stanford Library to match Corringham’s hours and some stock will be transferred.

"I hope residents will be pleased with the results and look forward to visiting when work is completed."

Thurrock Gazette