‘What are they going to do with it?’ No word on future of former Wick library building
A community council member in Wick has questioned the time it is taking for a £750,000 consultation to be finalised, which included the repurposing of the former Carnegie Library in the town.
The lack of progress being made over the “much-loved” building’s future was highlighted recently following a public consultation that was held in February which asked for people’s views on how the building could be used in future.
But the group behind the event said this week that a report on its findings was imminent.
Community councillor Eswyl Fell, who raised the issue at last week’s meeting of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council, said: “I am annoyed that consultation about the future of an important part of our town – the much-loved Carnegie Library – was carried out by a group of young adults who had been brought up to Caithness at great expense from the south of England, and knew nothing about the area.
“I would like to find out how much this consultation actually cost. I feel that it would have been more useful, and cheaper, for a local group to have carried out this task.
“I attended the meeting, and Post-it notes were handed out for people to write what they wanted to see the library being used for. I waited until the end, but no summation or discussion was given – just that they would let us know after they collated the findings.
“I looked at most of the notes and the majority of people wanted the library to be used as a place to display artwork or artefacts, and to be used as a hub for art groups. This was the general theme.
“I hope that the wishes of the locals will be listened to.”
The Caithness Place-Based Demonstrator project has the aim to “improve and reuse four community spaces to make their neighbourhoods more sustainable and resilient”. The four buildings earmarked by the project include the Castletown Drill Hall, the Carnegie Library, the UHI Thurso Campus and the Lybster Community Hall.
Hub North Scotland, which leads the project, says it has “played a major role in helping secure £750,000 of Scottish Government funding” to benefit the four communities in Caithness.
A spokesperson for Hub North Scotland was asked last week when updates on the Carnegie consultation were due and said that “there is a report from the Demonstrator project which is about to go public any day now”.
On Monday this week, he said that the report details would be released the following day but nothing had been received by the time of publication.
Highland Council is a partner in the project along with NHS Highland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the University of the Highlands and Islands, the Scottish Futures Trust, and the social innovation foundation, Nesta.
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “At the current time the local foodbank continues to operate on an interim basis from the Carnegie Library in Wick.
“There are no specific plans at this stage for the future use of the building, however further discussions with local Highland Council members will be undertaken to consider potential future options when the building becomes vacant.”
Leader of the council, Wick and East Caithness councillor Raymond Bremner had said that the project provided an “ideal opportunity for residents to tell us what needs to change to help them live well locally”.
He added: “We want to hear what different activities and resources they want to see in these spaces which will help make their communities more sustainable. Their input will shape the future use of these spaces to bring positive changes for all.”
The Carnegie building dates back to 1898 but its role as a library ended when the East Caithness Community Facility (ECCF) opened on the edge of Wick in 2017, incorporating a library and leisure services.
Members of the public suggested an exhibition space, a tourist information centre, a youth hangout, a music venue, an art gallery, a craft studio, a post office, a digital skills lab, a repair shop, an active travel hub or even a wedding venue as possible uses.
Some felt it should serve as the town's library again because of its convenient location in Sinclair Terrace.
Wick’s provost Jan McEwan agreed with this sentiment and said that the new library located at the ECCF is not “fit for purpose”.
She added: “A library is meant to be a quiet place where you can sit, read, study and contemplate. The library we’ve got at the moment is nothing but a thoroughfare and though it’s good for schoolkids it’s not fit for purpose for the community as a whole.
“The Carnegie Library was more central and more in keeping with the community of Wick. It was a sad day when they changed it. It’s a beautiful building and I’d hate to see it going to waste. Just what are they going to do with it?”
The other three Caithness community resources are also waiting to hear from Hub North Scotland on the details of its consultation findings, which we will report on when it is made public.
