Report by Local Democracy Reporter – Eddie Bisknell
A Derbyshire village library will now be temporarily closed for nearly two years due to noise, dust, and vibrations from the rebuilding of a neighbouring school.
Derbyshire County Council has decided to extend the temporary closure of Somercotes library in Bank Street until June 2027, due to delays in the ongoing construction and demolition of Somerlea Junior School, which shares the site with the library.
The county council announced an initial six-month temporary closure of the library last October and said it would last until early April 2026.
Staff and additional services are operating from Pinxton and South Normanton in the interim, four miles and three miles away, respectively.
The council says work via the Department for Education to build a new Somerlea Junior School and almost entirely demolish the current facilities started in June 2025 and is now due to finish in June 2027.
Work to build the new school is due to be completed this December, but demolition of the former school is scheduled for January to June 2027.
Officials wrote in a report: “Throughout this period, the public library building would be operating in the middle of construction traffic, with HGVs travelling around both sides of the building, and car parking continuing to be suspended.
“It is considered the customer – and staff – experience would be significantly compromised through continued noise, disturbance and resulting health and safety implications.”
The temporary closure had been decided last September after “noise, dust and disruption led to a significant impact on users.
Council officials have considered alternative premises within Somercotes to set up a temporary library, but could not find an appropriate venue and said fit-out costs for hire and relocation would be too high.
They said the operation of the Somercotes library itself costs £3,500 a year.
Officials wrote in a report that they had not received any negative feedback over the current arrangements and that staff had been informally consulted.
The new two-storey school, with solar panels on its roof, would accommodate 240 pupils aged seven to 11, with eight classrooms and a dining hall.
The site will include a 2,500-square-metre playing field and a multi-use games area, surrounded by fences, with layouts for tennis, netball and football.
