North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) has come under fire from campaigners fighting to save Grimsby Central Library.
The library has been closed for six months following a leak that led to asbestos removal and the relocation of all books, raising concerns over the site’s future. At the same time, a consultation into local library services was launched.
Angela Greenfield of the Save Our Libraries Campaign has worked for months to secure future for all borough libraries, particularly Grimsby Central Library.
Six months on from the beginning of the closure, Angela says NELC has failed in its statutory duty to provide accessible library services. She told Gi Grimsby News that, in her view, while some councillors have shown strong support for restoring the library and have listened to public opinion, officers have responded with repeated delays, evasive answers, and withheld information, including survey results.
The latest update, issued at a scrutiny panel meeting earlier this week, confirmed that structural surveys have been completed, but further assessments are still needed, with no clear timeline for completion or opening date for the temporary pop-up library.
Addressing the meeting, Angela said: “every question put by Councillors to the Officers was met with evasion, fudging or the response ‘we will have to take this away and look into it’.”
She added that when an update was requested on the progress of ongoing surveys, councillors were told there is currently no timeline for completion, and that much of the content may be confidential, despite an original timeline stating that this would be completed by the end of August 2025.
“This begs the question, why is information being withheld and what gives unelected officers the right to decide that information cannot be seen by elected members of the council,” she said.
Angela acknowledged the enormous cost attached to projects of this scale, but said it is clear “that the majority of Councillors are supportive of the Grimsby Library building being brought back into use. Even if they weren’t before, they have listened to the public on this and decided 4,800 people, which could have been double if we hadn’t closed the petition, can’t be ignored.”
Angela emphasised that taxpayer-funded officers must be accountable to elected members and the community, who have made it clear they want transparency and want the library saved.
She added: “My opinion is that that there are people in the Municipal Offices currently working to find every single reason and excuse to make it impossible. Those people need to remember that they are employed by the taxpayers and answerable to both the elected members and the public, and the public have stated loud and clear that they want to save our library.”
Part of the Gi Grimsby News team since 2020.