Shortlands Library building to be sold: £1m fix ruled out

Bromley Council plans to sell the Shortlands Library building rather than repair it. The library on Shortlands Road has been shut since January because of subsidence and cracked walls containing asbestos.

Officers say fixing the building would cost more than £750,000 and probably about £1 million. They estimate the site would fetch about £350,000 at auction.

The recommendation is in a report to the council’s Executive, which decides on Wednesday 25 November (Bromley Council report HPR2026/039). The Renewal, Recreation and Housing scrutiny committee looks at it the night before, on Tuesday 24 November.

Overview

• The building would be sold at auction, freehold, with its structural problems disclosed to bidders.
• Repairs were ruled out. Either route to fixing it would cost over £750,000, and it would still be a poor library building.
• The library service is not being closed. The temporary library at St Mary’s Church in Shortlands carries on.
• A permanent answer comes in 2027, after a needs assessment, a public consultation and an equality impact assessment.
• Ward councillors want the sale money spent on a new permanent library in Shortlands.

Why the council will not repair it

The library is a converted two-storey house from the early 1900s. The council has owned it since the 1950s. It had been underpinned once before and has moved on and off since.

New cracks appeared in January in walls that contain asbestos, and the building was closed straight away. The report says air tests found no asbestos in the air, so nobody was exposed.

Surveys the council published in August then found that two large trees at the front are very likely causing the subsidence. They have cracked the walls and opened a sinkhole in the floor. The report sets out two ways to fix it:

• Remove the trees. They are in a conservation area, so this needs planning permission, an insurance case and 6 to 12 months of monitoring first. The trees would then come down in stages, outside nesting season, over about 18 months. The report puts the likely wait before the library could reopen at four years.
• Keep the trees and underpin the building. This would be quicker but would still need invasive investigation, and probably a new floor throughout. The cost would not be known until that work was done.

Either way, the report puts the bill at more than £750,000 and “likely to ultimately be in the region of £1m”. That includes an extension, because the building has no public toilet. If the trees turned out not to be the cause, insurance would pay nothing.

The report also says the empty site has attracted fly-tipping.

What happens to the library service

The council’s report stresses that this is a decision about a building, not about whether Shortlands keeps a library. Councils have a legal duty to run a “comprehensive and efficient” library service.

Officers would draw up options for a permanent library and bring them back to the Executive in 2027. The report names two broad routes:

• a longer-term arrangement with St Mary’s Church
• building or buying a more suitable library building in the area

In the meantime the temporary library at St Mary’s Church continues. The report says it has grown to three days and 20.5 hours a week, with fixed shelving, fresh paint, better lighting, printing and computers. Before January, the old library was open 27.5 hours a week. Officers say they will look at getting back to that.

The report expects the temporary set-up to last “a year or more”. About 75% of the books, furniture and equipment is being taken out of the old building by specialists for reuse. Items fixed to the wall containing asbestos will be left behind.

What the ward councillors say

The report carries the view of the Shortlands and Park Langley ward councillors. They call a full and permanent library in Shortlands “an absolute priority”. They back the church arrangement for now, but say it “must not be regarded as an acceptable long term provision”.

They would support St Mary’s Church as a permanent home if it gave a full, modern library service. They also want every pound from the sale reinvested in the new library. The report does not commit to that. It says any receipt would go to the council’s capital programme.

What it means for you

• The library is still open, at St Mary’s Church. The council’s Shortlands Library page lists Mondays 9.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 5.30pm, and Saturdays 9.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm. The report describes three opening days, so check the page before you go.
• Click and collect works through the library catalogue, so you can order a book and pick it up at the church.
• You can watch the decision. The scrutiny and Executive meetings are open to the public. The public consultation on a permanent library comes later, as part of the 2027 options appraisal.