£600k earmarked to repair leaky roof at Bridgwater Library
The library’s roof has experienced “a significant number of leaks” in recent years
More than £600,000 will be spent by Somerset Council in the coming months to carry out vital repairs to Bridgwater Library.
The grade two listed library is located on Binford Place in Bridgwater town centre, near the entrance to Blake Gardens along the River Parrett.
The library’s roof has experienced “a significant number of leaks” in recent years due to the “poor condition” of part of its roof, with staff having to bring buckets to work in order to prevent water ingress.
After more than a year of delays, the council has finally awarded a contract for repairing the roof, with the work expected to be carried out by the end of the summer.
Carrie Russell, the council’s property projects officer, provided further details of the proposed repairs in a report published on the council’s official website.
He said: “There was a previous proposal to refurbish the entire library site, but due to insufficient capital funding, we have reverted to identifying the worst condition components at the site.
“We are therefore instructing contractors to undertake a stand-alone project to repair the roof, to prevent further water damage from repeated leaks into the internal library structure.
“Our property maintenance group received 33 calls from library staff at this site about leaks, and staff have to bring in their own buckets to contain the water ingress.
“This is a listed building, and the library is a statutory service. If the roof is not repaired the building will not be operational in the very-near-future.”
Ms Russell divulged that Bridgwater’s registration service had been forced to relocate from the library to Bridgwater House on King Square (the former headquarters of Sedgemoor District Council) because of persistent leaks in its section of the library building.
She added: “The alternative to investing in planned maintenance is to ‘patch and mend’ in order to try to prolong the life of building components as long as possible.
“This has already been tried at the Bridgwater library site for a number of months and temporary repairs have not resolved the need to replace the dilapidated areas of the roof, which are still letting in water and causing further infrastructure damage.
“The longer those components are left to deteriorate, the higher the cost becomes for on-going maintenance and eventual replacement.”
Councillor Mike Rigby, portfolio holder for economic development, planning and assets, provided further details in a report published before the full council met in Bridgwater on Wednesday afternoon (March 26).
He confirmed that the repairs would cost £620,000, adding: “The council’s financial situation means that investment in repairs and maintenance is currently restricted to high priority areas where there is a risk to health and safety, or a critical risk of building failure.”
Neither Mr Rigby nor Ms Russell have publicly stated when the roof repairs will be carried out.
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