Public meeting and planning committee debates to be held into plans to combine Bretton Library and Dementia Resource Centre in Peterborough

The decision to unite Bretton Library and Peterborough’s Dementia Resource Centre into one building will be discussed by the city’s planning committee.

This is after the proposals for a change of use and the division of the building were raised by Bretton ward councillor Scott Warren.

Cllr Warren has referred the decision over the building’s future to ensure that the issue is debated in public, with the item scheduled to be on the agenda on January 21.

The two organisations are set to share the space currently occupied wholly by the library at the Cresset Centre in Bretton under new plans, with the library set to lose over 50% of its current space at the Cresset Centre.

Cllr Warren has stated his opposition to the plans, raising concerns about the building’s suitability for both library users and users of the city’s dementia services.

Cllr Warren said: “This needs to he heard as it is in the public interest.

“It is a library being used by the community of Peterborough, now just Bretton. We need transparency to make sure these plans are aired and decided in the public forum.

“The library should be used as a community hub. The library is a safe place, lots of people don’t just use it as a place to get books nowadays but also use of because of financial pressures and other issues going on. It is there place then can go and use as a calm space, a space to read.

“I have had many residents contact me who are frightened and worried because they use the space when they are having a difficult time to help them deal with their situation.

“I am concerned about how the library will affect the community hub, there are a lot of good community support groups in there now.

“We also have to think about the people with dementia. The council has a duty of care to them as well. They need a proper space.

“It needs to have a place of its own where you don’t have other footfall, it really needs to be a place for people to go, breathe and be away from everything else, it needs a private garden and you’re not going to get that at Bretton Library.

“Is it right for those people that have dementia? It’s one of the most horrible things that people go through. I have had a family member go through it is awful and we’ve got to think about those people.

“This feels like it is being shoehorned into the library and it just isn’t right for those people with dementia.”

Councillor Shabina Qayyum, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, added: “No decisions have yet been made on the reconfiguration of Bretton Library to accommodate the Dementia Resource Centre as plans are yet to be agreed.

"However, we are retaining as much of the library space as possible, which we expect to be around 50 per cent of the current space.

"This is one of a number of difficult decisions that we have inherited since taking control of the council in May, and that we are now focussed on to achieve the best outcome for residents whilst making sure that we can deliver a balanced budget in the new financial year.

"If we fail to do that, which is not an option, decisions around the funding of services such as libraries will be taken out of our hands, which is not something any of us want."