Hands off library, urge councillors

They want proposals scrapped which could see the community facility moved from London Road to the seafront.

The library has occupied its current site since 1964 from where it issues some 300,000 books, CDs and DVDs a year to about 210,000 visitors but that could change in the next few years.

Developer St Modwen has proposed that it could be included in the entertainment centre it envisages replacing the Regis Centre as part of Bognor's regeneration.

This amends the previous thoughts that the library could move to the Hothamton site after that location's redevelopment.

However, the prospect of any relocation has alarmed some of Bognor's members on Arun District Council.

Cllr Francis Oppler (Orchard) said the library and its staff performed an excellent job in their present building.

It was updated at a cost of 180,000 as recently as October 2005.

"Bognor library is more than adequate. It is one of the most up to date libraries that we have in West Sussex," he said.

"I have had conversations with the West Sussex library service and they are doing nothing more than keeping an open mind about these proposals at the moment.

"They want to see a business case which St Modwen will put forward.

"They will then assess that case and match it against the benefits a move would bring to the people of Bognor and the users of the library in the future."

Customers of the library enjoyed using it, he pointed out.

The adult users gave it a 95 per cent satisfaction rating in the latest survey with children recording 100 per cent satisfaction with the service.

Just over one in three users '“ 34 per cent '“ were children to make the library one of the most popular in the county among youngsters. It also issued the sixth highest number of items of the county's 36 libraries.

He stated that the current location benefited from a lot of pedestrians walking to the neighbouring Edward Bryant Primary School and Hotham Park. The large London Road car park was also nearby.

Cllr Paul Wells (Hotham) said: "A lot of people have spoken out that the present location of the library is adequate where it serves that part of the town. Moving it to another part of town could have the reverse effect around the library's current site to what we are trying to achieve in regenerating the town."

Cllr David Biss (Orchard) said his fear about making the library part of the entertainment centre would be the lack of space to expand amid the surrounding facilities if it was successful.

But Cllr Norman Dingemans (Walberton), in charge of Arun's regeneration work, said Bognor's residents deserved more than the present library could offer.

"The library can't expand on its present site any more than it has done," he stated.

"There is a vision of a modern, up-to-date library with a visitor information centre and a one-stop shop and being used by students coming in to site to use the bars and restaurants.

"That will make the Regis Centre site come alive throughout the year because an extra 3,000 students will be on the Bognor campus when the University of Chichester changes its courses around."

He claimed the county library service would move provided the relocation did not involve any extra expense. The comments about the library arose during a debate about the regeneration proposals for Bognor. Other topics covered included the 30-storey landmark tower planned for Hothamton, the partial closure of The Esplanade and parking.

Councillors welcomed the wide-ranging debate which the scheme has generated in the past few weeks. They described the mixture of views expressed as healthy for Bognor's future and proved the high level of interest and concern for the town.