Senior councillor criticises empty Dorchester library building

Deputy Dorset Council leader Cllr Richard Biggs has said it is ‘wrong’ that Dorchester’s former library building remains empty after more than a decade.

The building, at the entrance to County Hall off The Grove in Dorchester, was last used by the library service a dozen years ago.

He has asked for a policy change to be considered to free up empty council buildings quicker.

“We have a number of properties which have been empty too long and I would like to see a system put in place where any directorate cannot hold them for perhaps more than two years, particularly if there is a potential for housing use,” he said.

“The library moved in 2013 and we have still not got a use for it and that is wrong… I know it’s been used as a bit of a store at times. I know things have failed to get funding but we cannot be in this situation year on year."

Executive Director for Place, Jan Britton, told the committee that there had been a tendency by the council, and previous councils, to hold onto empty buildings in case they found a use for them in the future. He said the new thinking was to release what was not needed so that others could use them, or for the council itself to find new uses for empty properties.

Underneath the building is the council’s nuclear bunker, with the building once the base for an emergency planning team. It has also been used, for a short while, for social services staff.